The Russian army attempted to completely encircle Bakhmut on Sundaya city in eastern Ukraine that has become the epicenter of the war and where Kiev’s troops are resisting.

“I want to pay a special tribute to the courage, strength and resilience of the soldiers fighting in Donbas”, the region of eastern Ukraine in which Bakhmut is located, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address.

The president described the battle for Donbas as “painful and difficult”, and thanked his soldiers, who “repulsed attacks, destroyed the occupier, weakened enemy positions and logistics and protected our borders and our cities.”

In its daily report, the Ukrainian General Staff said it repelled “more than 130 enemy attacks” in the past 24 hours at various locations on the front, including Liman, Bakhmut, Kupiansk and Avdiivka.

“The enemy continues to try to surround the city of Bakhmut”, he added, without elaborating.

Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said villages north and west of Bakhmut were attacked.

Shortly before, he had stated that the situation in Bakhmut was “difficult” but “under control”.

This Sunday, the pro-Russian separatist army in Donetsk released a video showing alleged Wagner fighters claiming to have captured the Stupky train stationin the northern suburbs of Bakhmut, details ep.

The battle for Bakhmut, which has been going on for months, has acquired enormous symbolic value for both sides.

That is what the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, on the front line of the battle, said on Friday the city was “virtually surrounded” and urged Zelensky to withdraw his troops.

On Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, noted that Russian troops had taken up positions in Bakhmut that allowed them to bypass some Ukrainian defenses.

“The Russians could try to surround the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian command has given the signal that it prefers to withdraw rather than risk being surroundedthe institute added.