Zelensky visits Bakhmut troops venturing close to bloodiest fighting - The Washington Post

It was not instantly wide wherever successful Bakhmut the president had visited, oregon however adjacent helium had ventured to front-line positions. Amid dense warring successful caller days, immoderate subject analysts said that the Russians were making incremental advances and had warned that Ukrainian troops were astatine hazard of being encircled.

“The President visited the beforehand positions of 1 of the mechanized brigades, whose unit confronts the force connected the approaches to the city,” the Facebook station said. “The Head of State heard the commander’s study connected the operational situation, worldly and method enactment and suggestions for further action. While successful the country of combat, Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian soldiers for the courage, resilience and spot they show by repelling force attacks.”

A video released by a state-run media outlet showed Zelensky, wearing an service greenish wintertime jacket, lasting by a array with 17 medals connected display, past heartily shaking hands with soldiers arsenic helium handed retired each award. Zelensky besides posted astir the sojourn connected his authoritative Telegram channel.

Ukrainian officials person sought to gully a opposition betwixt Zelensky’s willingness to sojourn his troops connected front-line positions oregon successful precocious liberated cities, specified arsenic Kherson, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s evident deficiency of trips to the beforehand lines, wherever critics accidental Russia has deployed thousands of conscripts, galore without due instrumentality oregon training.

Military analysts person questioned wherefore Putin seems consenting to wage specified an tremendous terms to instrumentality Bakhmut, which lacks evident strategical importance.

Much of Russia’s warring successful Bakhmut has fallen to the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary company. In his nightly code connected Monday, Zelensky called Bakhmut the “hottest spot” connected the front.

The Ukrainians person for weeks defied predictions that Bakhmut was connected the precipice of abandonment to Russian control. Russian forces person attempted to encircle the city, starring to bloody warring for incremental gains successful the southbound and eastbound and successful immoderate of the suburban outskirts extracurricular the city, according to subject analysts.

Ukrainian forces said they had besides repelled an further effort by Wagner fighters successful the northeast conception of the city, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based deliberation tank, said Monday.

Russian subject bloggers reacted to Zelensky’s reported sojourn by claiming it reflected an effort to enactment up Ukrainian enactment for the broader warfare up of its nonaccomplishment of the city.

Fighting has continued astatine a slower gait on a astir 620-mile beforehand successful eastbound Ukraine.

The Institute for the Study of War besides reported Russia had intensified crushed attacks since Sunday successful respective areas on the front, including adjacent the determination superior of Donetsk and the metropolis of Kreminna farther northbound successful the Luhansk region. Speculation has mounted that Ukraine whitethorn effort to motorboat a southward violative done the Zaporizhzhia region, aiming to chopped disconnected the Russian-controlled “land bridge” betwixt mainland Russia and Crimea, which was invaded and illegally annexed successful 2014.

In his code connected Monday, Zelensky said that the combat for Bakhmut is “breaking” the Russian forces. Ukraine’s subject has antecedently estimated that arsenic galore arsenic 100 Russian troops are being killed each time successful Bakhmut.

“Since May, the occupiers person been trying to interruption our Bakhmut, but clip goes on,” Zelensky said. “And Bakhmut is already breaking not lone the Russian service but besides Russian mercenaries who came to regenerate the mislaid soldiers of the occupiers."

Stern reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Mary Ilyushina successful Riga, Latvia, contributed reporting to this story.