By Olena Harmash
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited troops in the small eastern city of Avdiivka on Tuesday, thanked them for their service and was briefed by commanders on the battlefield situation, his office said.
Avdiivka has been one of the main targets of a Russian winter offensive which was intended to reinvigorate Moscow’s full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, but has made only small territorial advances in the east.
Video footage released by Zelenskiy’s office showed him addressing troops in combat gear and handing them awards in what appeared to be a large industrial warehouse with sandbags packed against at least one of the high walls.
“I have the honour to be here today, to thank you for your service, for defending our land, Ukraine, our families,” he said. “I wish you only victory – this is what I wish for every Ukrainian, this is what is very important to all of us.”
Zelenskiy also visited a hospital where he met wounded soldiers and handed out awards.
The video footage also showed heavily damaged high-rise residential buildings in Avdiivka, where officials say about 1,800 civilians remain.
Zelenskiy has visited troops several times in recent weeks before what is widely expected to be a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin also met troops this week, during visits on Monday to Russian-occupied parts of the Kherson and Luhansk regions.
Zelenskiy was accompanied in Avdiivka by Andriy Yermak, the head of his office, who said Ukrainian troops were preventing Russia encircling the city.
He said fierce battles were under way elsewhere in the region, and that “successful defence” was key in these places.
“Our army has already broken the enemy’s plans to break through the (Ukrainian) defences and advance in the east,” Yermak said on the Telegram messaging app.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
