Zelenskiy visits frontline cities amid tensions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy released his daily video address recorded next to the road sign in northeastern city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv region.
Last week, the Ukrainian military said that a small Russian assault group briefly broke through to the outskirts of Kupyansk for the first time since Moscow's forces fled in September 2022 in a sign of mounting pressure on the outpost. Military added Russian forces were repelled.
The city, now just 2.5 km from the front line, was under constant shelling and the population had dwindled to 3,000 people who were being urged to evacuate.
Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the early days of Moscow's February 2022 invasion and then retaken by Ukraine in a counteroffensive months later.
Zelenskiy said he visited the intense eastern frontline town of Pokrovsk, where Russia has directed an unrelenting infantry assault for months to close in on the strategically placed road and rail hub.
The trip comes a day before Kyiv marks 1,000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion at a critical moment after the election win of Donald Trump, who has promised to end the war without saying how, raised the prospect of future negotiations.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that he visited the eastern frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region.
A video posted by Zelenskiy showed him visiting troops in a bunker. Russian troops are currently about 8 km away from the industrial town of Pokrovsk, overwhelming Ukraine's stretched defenses with vastly superior numbers and equipment.
"The Pokrovsk section is a very tense one. I know that only thanks to your resilience, the east hasn't been occupied in its entirety by the Russian Federation. The enemy gets our responses every day, from you and from your brothers-in-arms. I want you to know that the Ukrainian people are very thankful," Zelenskiy said.
His visit comes a day after Joe Biden's administration allowed Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia.
