Earlier this month, the Kremlin spokesman assured his boss would visit occupied Donbass “on time”, repeating in similar terms the promise made three months earlier. Subsequently, Dmitry Peskov had also said that the eastern region of Ukraine – the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk – was under construction and that Russia had “big development plans”. Without making any announcements, the Ukrainian president yesterday visited Bakhmut, the city in Donetsk symbolic of both its army’s resistance to the invader and Russia’s inability to gain more territory. In Moscow, Vladimir Putin acknowledged difficulties in the areas he says he has annexed.
“I would like to wish them light, but it is such a difficult situation that there is and then there is not. The main thing is that there is light within,” Volodymyr Zelensky said of the families of soldiers fighting in Bakhmut. On the tercentenary of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian leader will have made one of the most risky visits to the frontline: it is around that city, known for its salt mines and the production of sparkling wine, that the heaviest battles take place, in which both sides admit to being a shredder of lives.
According to various military analysts, Moscow has been trying for months to take that city with mercenaries from the Wagner group and, more recently, with prisoners and mobilized people, and then attack Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the largest cities in free Donetsk. Russia is not only of geostrategic importance, but also strives for success on the ground after persistent setbacks. Putin admitted in a message to the security service that he was struggling with his “special military operation”, declaring an “extremely difficult” situation in the four regions he claimed to have annexed (although he does not fully control any of them).
The Russian leader called on the FSB to “intensify” work on the borders and “strictly suppress the actions of foreign intelligence services, to quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs.” Later, Putin said these are “difficult, unusual times” at a ceremony at the Kremlin to present awards, including to the chiefs installed by Moscow in the occupied regions. “When a country or even each person develops, moves forward, always overcomes certain difficulties along the way. But today, in fact, it comes with special challenges,” in yet another acknowledgment of problems, this time in a televised speech.
Zelensky also handed out medals, but to soldiers who defended their territory, and tried to give them a boost. “The East resists because Bakhmut fights. In fierce battles and at the cost of many lives, freedom is defended here by all of us. This is not just Bakhmut, this is Bakhmut’s fortress,” he said during the handover. medals.
Back in Kiev, the Ukrainian president took a flag of his country, signed by the soldiers, to the US Congress. Zelensky later explained that the message is one of thanksgiving and supplication. “We have a difficult situation, the enemy is increasing its forces. Our men are braver and we need a reinforcement of armaments. We will convey the words of gratitude of the troops to Congress and the President of the United States for their support . But it’s not enough.”
The public acknowledgment by the Russian leader that plans are not going as expected comes a day after another meeting with his Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko, and on the eve of a meeting with senior military officials to set military objectives. for the coming year and assess the conflict in Ukraine.
Source: DN
