- Paul Kirby
- BBC News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the battle front near the city of Bakhmut, which has been witnessing fierce battles for months.
The besieged city has become a focal point in the war, with Russia trying to capture it.
The British Ministry of Defense said that Ukrainian forces recently launched a counter-attack west of the city.
Zelensky’s visit comes after Russian forces attacked Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least four people in a drone strike near the capital.
The presidential office said in a statement that Zelensky spoke to the soldiers in the outposts of his army in the vicinity of Bakhmut and thanked them for their efforts to defend Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president told his soldiers: “I am honored to be here today, in the east of our country, in the Donbass, and to reward our heroes, to thank you, to shake your hand.”
The city of Bakhmut is witnessing widespread destruction due to fierce fighting for more than seven months, as Russian forces are trying to make gains in the region.
The defense ministry said the counterattack in western Bakhmut was likely to relieve pressure on the main Ukrainian supply route to the city.
“Fighting continues around the city center and the Ukrainian defenses remain at risk of being encircled from the north and south,” the statement added.
“However, there is a reasonable possibility that the Russian offensive on the town is losing the limited momentum it had gained, in part due to the redeployment of some Russian military units to other sectors.”
Russian forces launched attacks targeting several Ukrainian cities, killing about four people in a drone attack on a residential area in the capital, Kiev.
The upper floors of two residential buildings were attacked early on Wednesday in the outskirts of the capital.
Rescue teams said an 11-year-old boy was among the victims.
Officials in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, said that the forces were able to repel an attack by a Ukrainian drone on their fleet.
There were also reports, citing residents, of explosions in the coastal city of Sevastopol.
Mikhail Razvozhev, head of the Russian-backed authorities in Sevastopol, said that three “objects” targeting the Black Sea Fleet were destroyed and no damage was done to the Russian warships.
There was no comment from the Ukrainian army, which said earlier this week that it had destroyed missiles heading towards the fleet in Djanko, in northern Crimea.
The Ukrainian authorities said that Russia had launched more than 20 “combat drones”, as well as missiles and missiles.
Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia, Zelensky said that every time they say the word “peace” in Moscow, a new order for attacks is issued.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that several provisions of China’s 12-point peace plan “can be taken as the basis for settling the conflict in Ukraine whenever the West and Kiev are ready for it.”
The plan makes no specific proposals, nor does it explicitly call for Russian forces to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory.
Andrei Yermak, the chief of the presidential office, said three people were injured in a separate Russian attack in the southern city of Odessa when a three-storey building on the grounds of a monastery was attacked.
Drones were also launched in the northwestern region of Zhitomir, but no injuries were reported. The Ukrainian military said 16 of 21 drones launched on Wednesday were shot down.
Sirens sounded in Ukraine hours later, amid reports of Russian warplanes carrying long-range missiles.
