Zelenskiy visits troops in eastern Ukraine in effort to boost morale

Volodymyr Zelenskiy presents an award to a Ukrainian soldier during his visit to Pokrovsk. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made an unannounced visit to the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to bolster morale among troops, amid ongoing advances by Russian forces.

The Ukrainian president recorded a video address against the backdrop of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of about 61,000 that has seen some of the most intense fighting during the 28-month-long full-scale invasion.

He made the trip alongside Brig Gen Andriy Hnatov, the newly appointed commander of the joint forces. Earlier this week, Hnatov replaced a general who had been accused by some soldiers of causing significant casualties in the war with Russia.

Zelenskiy said: “In the Donetsk region, I held a detailed meeting on security and support for the people. We addressed many issues, including ensuring essential services such as water, social issues, evacuation, defence assistance, and housing restoration.”

The president’s visit to Pokrovsk came two days after the city was struck by a Russian “double-tap” missile attack – in which two missiles hit the same spot half an hour apart – that killed at least five people and wounded 41 others.

While the west’s decisions to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with its weaponry have halted Russia’s push along the north-east front near Kharkiv, Moscow remains on the offensive in the east.

Outgunned and outmanned, Ukrainian soldiers have been struggling to hold back a significant Russian ground offensive that aims to capture the entirety of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Deepstate, an open-source Ukrainian analysis group, reported on Sunday that Russian soldiers had captured the village of Novooleksandrivka, bringing them closer to the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka highway, a critical supply route for Ukrainian forces.

Moscow seems intent on exploiting a strategic opportunity before Ukraine receives new military aid from the west, including F-16 fighter jets and tens of thousands of artillery shells through a Czech initiative.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, this month said his country would begin peace negotiations if Kyiv agrees to cede four frontline Ukrainian regions. Ukraine promptly rejected Putin’s proposals, arguing they amounted to a de-facto capitulation and would leave the country at risk of future attacks.

Meanwhile, on Monday evening, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 90 prisoners of war each in the latest prisoner swap, with the United Arab Emirates overseeing the exchange.

Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the UAE has maintained a neutral stance on the conflict and has mediated between the two sides to facilitate the exchange of prisoners.

Zelenskiy on his social media accounts published photograph of returned Ukrainian soldiers, with the caption: “Home is not just a word. Home means Ukraine.”