OKHTYRKA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s President visited the Sumy region of northern Ukraine on Tuesday, continuing his tour in recent days through areas of the country that have been feeling the brunt of Russia’s massive invasion and the stage is increasingly set for one Ukrainian counteroffensive.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with officials and locals in two regional cities and with border guards at an undisclosed location near the border with Russia.
The Sumy region was partially occupied by Russian forces after the war began more than a year ago. The Russians withdrew from the region in early April.
The Associated Press was granted exclusive access as Zelenskyy visited the towns of Okhtyrka, which saw fierce fighting last year but was never occupied, and Trostianets, which was held by the Russians for a month after the invasion but was held by Ukrainian forces on March 26 was recaptured. 2022.
The president’s office said Zelenskyy also went to the Russian border to meet with border guards and hear how they protect checkpoints. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia has increased shelling of border areas in the Sumy region in recent weeks.
Zelenskyy’s trip followed his visits over the past seven days to the Kherson and Kharkiv regions, parts of which were retaken by Kremlin forces last year, to the hard-fought area near Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and to Zaporizhia in the south .
Also on Tuesday, at least three civilians were killed and 43 others injured in recent Russian strikes using drones, glide bombs and heavy artillery, Ukraine’s Presidential Office said.
In the eastern Donetsk region, Russian shelling hit 12 towns and villages, killing two and injuring 34. Russian shelling also targeted the southern city of Kherson, where five were injured. In Bilopillia, Sumy region, a Russian strike damaged a school building and an apartment building.
Addressing a crowd in a square in Okhtyrka, Zelenskyi vowed that the struggling city would be rebuilt.
“We will not leave a wound on the body of our state,” he said.
In Trostianets, Zelenskyy honored soldiers at the local train station, where Ukrainian authorities say the Russians tortured prisoners. He also met with Minister of Reconstruction of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Many buildings in the city have been damaged or destroyed by the war, with crumbling walls and holed roofs.
Trostyanets resident Dmytro Zaiats told the AP the president’s visit means a lot to him.
“It’s a symbol of unity and the iron will that brought the country together,” he said.
Expectations of a Ukrainian push against Russian positions are rising as the weather improves and western-supplied arms arrive in Kiev.
Germany said late Monday it had delivered the 18 Leopard II tanks it had promised Ukraine. Poland, Canada, Norway and Portugal have also delivered promised Leopard tanks. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter that the first British Challenger 2 main battle tanks had also arrived.
“These fantastic machines will soon begin their combat missions,” said Reznikov.
Russia is increasing its own production of war material. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited factories in the Chelyabinsk and Kirov regions that make artillery shells and rockets, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the factories will increase production of certain items by seven or eight times later this year.
Russia has continued its long-range bombing of Ukrainian areas, but its nightly attacks using exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones are doing little damage.
The Ukrainian military shot down 14 of the 15 Shahed drones fired by Russia late Monday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
The Kiev Regional Military Administration said debris from a downed drone hit an administrative building in the Sviatoshynskyi district in the western part of the capital, causing a fire. There were no injuries.
Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhii Lysak said Ukrainian military shot down two drones overnight but another struck a private industrial facility in the city of Dnipro, causing a fire that took hours to extinguish.
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