Volodymyr Zelensky made the statement in a video address to the nation on Sunday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Bakhmut and Soledar are located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, which forms part of the wider Donbas region.
Intense fighting around Bakhmut, Soledar
Zelensky said: “Heavy fighting continues in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions - every hotspot in these areas is well known.”
He added: “Bakhmut is holding out against all odds. And although most of the city is destroyed by Russian strikes, our warriors repel constant attempts at Russian offensive there.”
Zelensky also said: “Soledar is holding out. Although there is even more destruction there and it is extremely hard … There is no such piece of land near these two cities, where the occupier would not have given his life for the crazy ideas of the masters of the Russian regime. This is one of the bloodiest places on the frontline.”
At least two people were killed during fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to officials.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said one person was killed in Russian strikes on Bakhmut, and eight others in the province were wounded, ABC News reported.
H added that there had been rocket attacks on the cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka, according to the UK’s The Guardian newspaper.
Zelensky condemns Russia for not observing its own ceasefire
The Ukrainian president denounced Russia for failing to honour the 36-hour ceasefire the Kremlin had imposed for Orthodox Christmas.
He accused Russian forces of attacking Ukrainian cities during the ceasefire.
Zelensky said: “The world has seen again these days that Russia lies even when it draws attention to the situation at the front with its own statements.”
He added: “Russian shelling of Kherson with incendiary ammunition right after Christmas. Strikes on Kramatorsk and other cities of Donbas - exactly on civilian objects and exactly when Moscow reported on the alleged ‘silence’ of their army. More threats of Russian officials to Europe and the world…”
Zelensky also stated: “All this was when Moscow was talking about the alleged ‘truce’. No attempt by Russia to manipulate diplomacy and politics will ever work again.”
Kyiv rejects Moscow’s claim to have killed over 600 Ukrainian troops
Meanwhile, Russia has claimed to have killed more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers in a “retaliatory strike” on the eastern town of Kramatorsk, but the Ukrainian army rejected the claim, The Guardian reported on Sunday.
The mayor of Kramatorsk, which is situated near the frontline town of Bakhmut, said there were no deaths from strikes over the weekend, the UK newspaper added.
The Donetsk regional administration said seven Russian missiles hit Kramatorsk and two more hit Kostiantynivka, without causing any casualties, according to the AP news agency.
An educational institution, an industrial facility and garages were damaged in Kramatorsk, and an industrial zone was struck in Kostiantynivka, officials said.
Russia earlier claimed the attack on Kramatorsk had been conducted “in retaliation” for a Ukrainian strike on Russian-occupied Makiivka last week, US broadcaster CNN reported.
CNN said its reporters on the ground have seen “no indication of any massive casualties in the area.”
50 Ukrainian soldiers freed from Russian detention
Fifty Ukrainian servicemen were on Sunday released from Russian captivity as part of a prisoner swap, The Guardian reported. The soldiers posed for a photo on their release, the UK newspaper noted.
Ukraine war prompts Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since WWII: UN
Meanwhile, the German representative for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that more than 7.9 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.
Katharina Lumpp said another 5.9 million people were internally displaced, adding that the number of Ukrainians who have had to flee the country made it Europe's biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
Monday is day 320 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, The Guardian, ukrinform.net, president.gov.ua, ABC News, CNN, Associated Press, dw.com/en
