President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday visited the eastern frontline town of Bakhmut, now the epicenter of fighting in Russia’s nearly 10-month invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyi met with military officials and presented awards to Ukrainian soldiers who held back a bitter month-long Russian campaign for the city.
To gain control of the city, Russia is said to have relied on mercenaries, conscripts and newly mobilized soldiers to launch waves of attacks against Ukrainian positions.
The brutal trench warfare and artillery fire surrounding Bakhmut – once known for its vineyards and cavernous salt mines – have leveled much of the city and surrounding area.
Zelenskyi met with military officials and presented awards to Ukrainian soldiers who held back a bitter month-long Russian campaign for the city
To gain control of the city, Russia is said to have relied on mercenaries, conscripts and newly mobilized soldiers to launch waves of attacks against Ukrainian positions
“I wish there was light, but the situation is so difficult that there is light and then there is no light. The main thing is that there is light inside,” Zelenskyy said, according to local media, referring to systematic strikes targeting Ukraine’s power grid.
“Bakhmut is Ukraine’s eastern stronghold,” Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar, who also visited Bakhmut, said in a statement on social media.
“Tomorrow is the winter equinox and the nights are getting shorter. The darkest night will end with the dawn of our victory,’ she said.
The visit comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Tuesday said the situation in several areas of Ukraine that Moscow reportedly annexed but does not control militarily is “extremely difficult”.
The visit comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Tuesday said the situation in several areas of Ukraine that Moscow reportedly annexed but does not control militarily is “extremely difficult”.
Putin announced in September the annexation of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine after Moscow proxies held referenda there in what Kyiv and the West branded a sham.
His troops never fully controlled any of the areas and were forced to withdraw from the regional capital of the southern Kherson region last month after a month-long Ukrainian counter-offensive.
“The situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhia Oblasts is extremely difficult,” Putin told the Russian security services during their professional vacation.
He highlighted those who work in the “new regions of Russia”, adding that “the people living there, the citizens of Russia, rely on you, on your protection”.
And at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin later Tuesday, the Russian leader presented awards to the Moscow-based leaders of the regions.
“Our country has repeatedly faced challenges and defended its sovereignty. Today, Russia faces the same challenge again,” he said, referring to the territories retaken from Ukraine.
Putin’s comments came a day after his first visit in several years to neighboring Belarus for talks with strong leader Alexander Lukashenko, who allowed Russian troops to use his country to launch their invasion of Ukraine in February.
The Ukrainian military said after the visit that the threat of another possible attack from Belarusian territory is growing, but that its forces are taking steps to prepare.
“We closely monitor the arms that are being transferred from Russia,” said Sergiy Nayev, commander of the Joint Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The scale of the military threat is gradually increasing, but we are also taking appropriate measures.”
The State Department, meanwhile, dismissed the talks as political theatre, although the heads of state and government promised intensified military cooperation at the talks.
“The meeting between Putin and Lukashenko is another dance they performed… no critical decisions were made. Whatever happens, we are prepared for any scenario,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during an online briefing.
Putin denied plans to include Belarus during Monday’s visit, but the two former Soviet allies pledged closer military cooperation in the future.
The Ukrainian presidency, meanwhile, said Russian attacks across Ukraine killed five people, including three in the Donetsk region, where Bakhmut is located, and in the Kherson region.
The war has taken a significant toll on Ukraine’s economy, and the IMF said on Monday it had approved an economic surveillance program that could help Kyiv secure funding from donors, with the war-torn country making more than 40 more trips this year billion dollars needed.