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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the city of Bakhmut on Tuesday, amid the ongoing battle for the town that is a target for Russian forces.
Video posted to the messaging app Telegram showed Zelensky in the city meeting Ukrainian troops, while the president also handed out awards to soldiers, according to his office.
Bakhmut, located in the eastern region of Donetsk, has been the focus of fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces for months and Zelensky's visit comes after he stressed the importance of the ongoing battle there during a televised address on Monday.
Zelensky has now left the city, according to presidential spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov.
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar also visited the city with Zelensky and shared photos to her Facebook page on Tuesday morning.
"These are our defenders of Bakhmut," Malyar wrote. "They are holding Bakhmut so tightly that the enemy cannot capture it. And will not be captured. Proud of each and every one!"
The city is a major target for Russian forces, and it has been severely damaged, with most of the civilian population having left.
If Russia is successful in capturing Bakhmut, it would be a major blow to Ukraine and could enable Russia to launch attacks on the strategically important cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, which remain under Ukrainian control.
"Bakhmut is the hottest spot on the entire frontline—more than 1,300 kilometers of active hostilities," Zelensky said on Monday.
"Since May, the occupiers have been trying to break our Bakhmut, but time goes by and Bakhmut is already breaking not only the Russian Army, but also the Russian mercenaries who came to replace the wasted army of the occupiers," the Ukrainian president said, in a seeming reference to the Wagner Group.
Zelensky's visit to the troops comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Belarussian capital of Minsk on Monday and held talks with the country's president, Alexander Lukashenko.
Putin and Lukashenko discussed ties between the two countries during a press conference, but reporters in attendance did not ask the two leaders about the war in Ukraine, according to a Reuters report.
Serhiy Nayev, Ukrainian joint forces commander, said he believed the talks would address "further aggression against Ukraine and the broader involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine, in particular, in our opinion, also on the ground."
Newsweek has asked the Ukrainian government for comment.
Update 12/20/22 07.20a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include more information.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more