Volodymyr Zelensky made the assessment in a video address to the nation on Monday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Ukrainian president said: “Bakhmut direction - the situation is getting more and more difficult.”
He added: “The enemy is constantly destroying everything that can be used to protect our positions, to gain a foothold and ensure defence.”
Zelensky stated: “Our warriors defending the Bakhmut sector are real heroes. I am grateful to each and every person who is heroically holding this direction and other directions in Donbas.”
Bakhmut has been the focus of Russian advances in eastern Ukraine and the scene of the toughest fighting as the Kremlin’s forces fight to encircle the mining city, the Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday morning.
Russian troops are seeking to cut the Ukrainian defenders' vulnerable supply lines into the city and force them to surrender or withdraw, according to military experts.
Seizing Bakhmut would give Moscow its first major prize in more than half a year, and pave the way for the capture of the last remaining urban centres in the eastern Donetsk region, Reuters reported.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed its troops destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near Bakhmut, in addition to shooting down four HIMARS missiles and five drones launched by Ukraine, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
These developments came as many of Ukraine’s battlefields were turning to mud amid an early spring thaw, according to news reports.
China has ‘very clearly’ taken Russia’s side over Ukraine: US official
China has been "anything but an honest broker" in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine, and has "very clearly" taken Russia's side, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday, as quoted by Reuters.
China has supplied Russia with "diplomatic support, political support, with economic support, with rhetorical support," Price told a news conference.
US treasury secretary announces new aid for Ukraine on surprise visit
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday made a surprise visit to Kyiv to reaffirm Washington’s economic aid to Ukraine, according to news outlets.
Yellen met with Zelensky and other key Ukrainian government officials, Reuters reported.
Following talks with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Yellen said that the United States had provided nearly USD 50 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance, and announced another multibillion-dollar package to boost Ukraine’s economy, The Guardian reported.
Ukrainian Nobel peace laureate calls for special tribunal for Putin over Ukraine
Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk has called for the swift establishment of a special tribunal to try Vladimir Putin and his associates for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Matviichuk, who heads Ukraine's Centre for Civil Liberties, told The Guardian on Monday that such a move could have “a cooling effect” on atrocities committed by Russia’s invading forces.
She also said a speedy start to war crimes trials against the Kremlin leader and soldiers could save people’s lives by deterring Russian troops from committing more crimes.
Tuesday is day 370 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, president.gov.ua, Reuters, The Guardian