Ukraine’s president visits combat zone; Putin rallies forces

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited an eastern city that is a focus of some of the most intense combat of Russia’s nearly 10-month war. Zelenskyy’s office said he met Tuesday with military personnel in Bakhmut. The city located about 600 kilometers (380 miles) east of Kyiv has remained in Ukrainian hands, thwarting Moscow’s goal of capturing Ukraine’s entire Donbas region. It wasn’t clear how Zelenskyy got there, but his unannounced trip to the combat zone appeared designed to shore up the morale of Ukrainians and to dishearten the Russians trying to encircle the city. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin praised the “courage and self-denial” of his front-line forces in Ukraine.