Ukraine: Selenksyj meets soldiers at the front near Bakhmut

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops at the front in the city of Bakhmut. There he distinguished soldiers and met with military representatives. In recent weeks, the city has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in eastern Ukraine since the Russian war of aggression began. Selenskyj commemorated the fallen with a minute’s silence. Then he turned to the soldiers, accompanied by the sound of explosions. “It’s not about the Donbas, not only. I want to tell you that here in the Donbas you are defending all of Ukraine. Because after the Donbas, they can do the same in other Ukrainian cities because they want to erase everything that has to do with Ukraine I’m 100 percent sure about that. That’s why you shoulder the defense of the whole Ukraine, not just the defense of Donbas.” Then Selenskyj again called for more support from abroad. “It’s a complicated situation. The enemy is increasing their troops. Our soldiers are bolder, and we need better weapons. We will pass on our boys’ gratitude to the US Congress and the US President for their support, but the support is not enough. We see that here, it is not enough.” On Monday, Zelensykj addressed the states that provide the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a multinational rapid reaction force led by Britain. I ask you to increase the possibility of supplying our country with air defense systems and to help speed up the relevant decisions of our partners,” Zelenskyy said.