The Ukrainian president visited Sumy, which is the sixth stop in his regional tour, during which he will visit areas near the front line
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited two northern towns and border guard trenches near Russia on Tuesday, the latest stop on a regional tour that will take him to areas near the front line.
Video footage released by Zelensky’s office showed him visiting Sumy, the sixth region he has visited in a week, as expectations of a Ukrainian counterattack rose.
Zelensky walked with the commanders of the border guards through a deep trench in an undisclosed wooded position in Sumy, while troops in combat uniform watched closely.
He also visited the towns of Okhtyrka and Trostyanets, from which Russian forces who had controlled parts of the Sumy region for about a month at the start of the war in February last year were expelled.
Some buildings in the two towns were badly damaged in the fighting, and Ukrainian officials say that territory near the border is still regularly bombarded by Russian artillery and air strikes.
“In these days and these weeks we celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of our cities and communities in our northern regions,” Zelensky told a small gathering of soldiers and civilians at the railway station in Trostianets, before distributing medals.
He later wrote on Telegram: “Our people proved that we will defeat this occupier, with our morale, with our Ukrainian character. Our people proved it, our warriors proved it.”
Heavy fighting has been going on along the eastern front for months, and the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces said last week that a Ukrainian counter-offensive could be launched “very soon”.