Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled on Tuesday to Bakhmut, a city in the east of his country ravaged by intense fighting with Russian forces who have been trying to take it since the summer and currently the hottest spot from the forehead.
This surprise visit by Mr. Zelensky as close as possible to the clashes, appears as a challenge to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who, at the same time, was presenting decorations in the Kremlin to soldiers and pro-Russian separatist leaders from the east. from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian head of state “met soldiers, spoke with them” on the spot, said the press service of the presidency, without further details.
A video broadcast by Ukrainian state channel Freedom showed him taking a photo of himself alongside soldiers in a building and giving them medals.
“Here in the Donbass, you protect all of Ukraine. It’s not just Bakhmout, it’s the Bakhmout fortress,” he told the soldiers.
Mr. Zelensky went several times near the front, such as mid-November to Kherson, in the south, after the withdrawal of Russian troops, and to Sloviansk in early December, a few tens of kilometers from the eastern front.
This visit to Bakhmout, however, appears to be the most risky of his trips, as the Russian forces are at the gates of this city.
“Eastern Fortress”
Troops from Moscow have been trying since the summer to seize it. Ravaged by fighting, Bakhmout was once known for its vineyards and salt mines and had a population of around 70,000 before the Russian invasion.
If the Russian soldiers claimed the conquest of villages and areas located at the very end of Bakhmout, the Ukrainian forces seem to control the city and part of its surroundings.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, appeared on television on Tuesday presenting decorations to Russian soldiers and political and economic figures, inside the walls of the Kremlin in Moscow.
“Our country has repeatedly faced challenges and defended its sovereignty. Today, Russia faces the same challenge again,” he said after decorating leaders of Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatist east.
Putin will draw conclusions from the past year and set his army’s goals for 2023 at a meeting with senior Russian military officials on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will notably report on “the progress of the special military operation” in Ukraine during this meeting, which will involve 15,000 officials.
“Extremely difficult” situation
Mr Shoigu appeared in a video on Sunday showing him inspecting the deployment of Russian forces in southern Ukraine. The ministry did not specify the exact place and date of this visit.
After a series of Russian military setbacks in northeastern and southern Ukraine, most of the fighting is currently concentrated in the east of this country.
Russia has opted from October for massive bombardments on Ukrainian infrastructure, which cause power and water cuts.
Vladimir Putin admitted on Tuesday that the situation was “extremely difficult” in the four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine which Moscow claims to annex without having fully conquered them.
A high-ranking officer in the Ukrainian army, General Sergey Nayev, for his part, claimed to see an “increase in the level of threat” of a potential Russian attack from neighboring Belarus, as was the case in the early days of the conflict.
Vladimir Putin traveled to Belarus on Monday for talks with his counterpart and ally, Alexander Lukashenko, while the Russian army is currently taking part in “tactical” maneuvers there.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, minimized the impact of this meeting on Tuesday, considering that it was a simple political “dance” and that “no essential decision was taken during this meeting “.
In an interview with a French channel aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off Egypt, President Emmanuel Macron also indicated that France recently delivered rocket launchers and Crotale missile batteries to Ukraine and will continue its arms deliveries in early 2023.
“In recent days, France has delivered additional weapons, rocket launchers, rattlesnakes, equipment beyond what we had already done,” he said.
” We work […] so that in the first quarter we can again deliver useful weapons and ammunition, so that the Ukrainians can defend themselves against the bombardments,” added the French president.