Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) attends a session at the G7 Hiroshima Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, 21 May 2023. EFE/EPA/JAPAN POOL JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Zelenskyy drums up support at G7 as Russia says it has taken Bakhmut

Moscow/Hiroshima, May 21 (EFE).- President Vladimir Putin on Sunday congratulated Russian troops for taking control of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that Moscow has been trying to capture since August.

A handout photo made available by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service shows Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and US President Joe Biden (R) during a meeting, in Hiroshima, Japan, 21 May 2023. EFE/EPA/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT

A Kremlin statement said Putin “congratulates the Wagner assault groups, as well as all the servicemen of the Russian Army units who provided them with the necessary support and flank protection, with the end of the operation for the liberation of Artyomovsk,” using the Russian name for Bakhmut.

The Russian defense ministry also confirmed “the liberation of Artyomovsk” following “offensive actions of Wagner assault groups with support of artillery and aviation of the Southern grouping of the Russian Army.”

Ukrainian servicemen from the 24th Mechanized Brigade ‘King Danylo’ leave their position after firing a BM-21 ‘Grad’ multiple rocket launcher system (MLRS) in the direction of the frontline city of Bakhmut, at an undisclosed location, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, 19 May 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EFE/EPA/OLEG PETRASYUK

The announcements come the day after the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had posted a video on Telegram claiming that his forces had taken control of the besieged city.

Kyiv quickly denied that its forces had abandoned the town, with deputy defense minister Hannay Malyar insisting that “heavy fighting” continued, although she admitted that “the situation is critical.”

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was meeting with world leaders, including US president Joe Biden, at the G7 in Japan this weekend, said Sunday he did not think that Bakhmut had been lost when a reporter told him “the Russian say they have taken” the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, pose for a photo after laying wreath in front of the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, after he was invited to the Group of Seven nations’ summit in Hiroshima, western Japan, 21 May 2023. EFE/EPA/Eugene Hoshiko / POOL POOL PHOTO

“I think no, but you have to understand that there is nothing – they destroyed everything, there are no buildings,” Zelenskyy said. “There is nothing in this place. Just drones and a lot of dead Russians.”

He also expressed his gratitude to Ukrainian soldiers who have fought in Bakhmut, which before the war was home to about 80,000 people.

“Our defenders in Bakhmut did a strong job and, of course, we appreciate the great work they have done,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Ukrainian servicemen from the 24th Mechanized Brigade ‘King Danylo’ fire a BM-21 ‘Grad’ multiple rocket launcher system (MLRS) in the direction of the frontline city of Bakhmut, at an undisclosed location, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, 19 May 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EFE/EPA/OLEG PETRASYUK

During their meeting, Biden announced another round of military aid, with a senior US official later telling Efe that the assistance amounted to US$375 million and includes weapons that Washington has already sent to Ukraine such as artillery, ammunition, armored vehicles and high-mobility artillery rockets (Himars).

“The United States continues to help Ukraine respond, recover, and rebuild,” the US president said, adding that Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” was “non-negotiable.”

Since the start of the war, the United States has given Ukraine $36.9 billion in military assistance, according to Pentagon data.

Zelenskyy thanked Biden and the American people for their continued support, and praised the “strong relations” between their two countries that allow them to face these challenges “shoulder to shoulder.”

Ukrainian servicemen from the 24th Mechanized Brigade ‘King Danylo’ prepare a BM-21 ‘Grad’ multiple rocket launcher system (MLRS) before firing in the direction of the frontline city of Bakhmut, at an undisclosed location, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, 19 May 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EFE/EPA/OLEG PETRASYUK

Zelenskyy arrived Saturday in the Japanese city of Hiroshima for the G7 summit, a visit that he hoped would boost military support from Ukraine’s Western allies and help him engage with countries like Brazil and India, who have refused to align themselves with the West, having maintained trade with Russia and refused to explicitly condemn Moscow for the invasion.

Later on Sunday, the Ukrainian president visited the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum in Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the nuclear attack in 1945. EFE

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