Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, officially visited soldiers in the Kharkiv region, the bettered eastern front line of the country. It was the first official visit of the president outside the Kyiv region since the Russian attack started on 24th February. He told troops that he wanted to thank every soldier for his service.
Zelensky has met with military forces in the country’s war-torn Kharkiv region, marking the leading appearance outside Kyiv and its surrounding areas since February 24. Wearing a bullet-proof vest, Volodymyr Zelenskyy surveyed ruins and heavily destroyed structures in the region. pic.twitter.com/izkpLH4jCj
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Afterward, Zelensky dismissed the local security chief for not defending the city. Moscow resumed bombing Kharkiv (Ukraine’s 2nd-largest city) in recent days after a fortnight of comparative silence. Kharkiv faced intense shelling in the initial months of the war. However, during April and May, Ukrainian forces gradually forced Russian troops back from its surrounding town. The Ukrainian gain prompted some residents who had fled Kharkiv to return.
Zelensky Announced to Rebuild Destroyed Buildings
However, the city remains within Russian artillery range. Many explosions were heard in the city after the Ukrainian president’s visit. Zelensky’s office posted a video on the social media platform Telegram and wrote that Russian troops destroyed around 2229 buildings in Kharkiv and the corresponding region. His government will restore, rebuild those buildings, and bring back life in the area.
Source: Web
Zelensky met the mayor of the city and the regional governor to talk about his plans regarding reconstruction and rebuilding and also urged them to find cool projects to help reestablish the destroyed city. The president further added that this is the chance for these districts to have a new face.
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Zelensky, said that currently, Russian forces occupied thirty-one percent of the territory of the Kharkiv region, while Ukrainian troops re-captured around five percent of the occupied territory. Currently, the Russian military concentrates its aggression on the Donbas region, which it pledged to capture as a critical war aim.
The Russian military is trying to surround the cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. Moreover, the Russian defense ministry said on Saturday that it seized the nearby town of Lyman. Around fifteen thousand civilians are still in Severodonetsk and facing issues such as low water supply.
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