Ukraine war: Bakhmut is “not occupied” by Russia, says defiant Zelensky

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By Tessa Wong, James Waterhouse and Oliver Slope BBC News, in Hiroshima, Kiev, London May 21, 2023 07:46 GMT

Updated 1 hour ago

A defiant Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that Bakhmut was “not occupied” by Russia after a Moscow-backed mercenary group claimed control.

The Ukrainian president was speaking during a scene-stealing visit to Hiroshima, Japan, for the G7 summit.

The founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had earlier declared his victory in Bakhmut.

But Ukrainian military sources told the BBC they still controlled a few buildings on the outskirts of the city.

At a press conference on the last day of the summit, Mr. Zelensky refused to provide precise details. But he said the city, where the bloodiest battle has taken place since August, “has not been occupied by ‘Russia’ until today”.

“There are no two or three interpretations of these words,” he added, after earlier confusion over his statements about the city’s status.

And in a video posted on Saturday, Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, claimed his fighters — who spearheaded the Russian assault on Bakhmut — are in full control of the city. Ukraine quickly denied this.

Zelensky likened Bakhmut to Hiroshima, which was hit by an atomic bomb in World War II, and promised a similar reconstruction for his country.

Earlier Sunday, Zelensky visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida – whose relatives died when the United States dropped the bomb on the city in 1945.

Mr Zelensky laid a wreath for those killed in the attack.

photo caption,

Zelensky and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

After meeting with Mr. Kishida, head to a hall in the Peace Garden to talk to the reporters.

When he entered, a journalist shouted from the back of the room: “Slava ukraine” (Glory to Ukraine). Mr. Zelensky nodded to acknowledge her.

He has drawn many parallels between Hiroshima and Ukraine, saying that the images of the destroyed Japanese city after the bombing reminded him of present-day Bakhmut. He vowed that there would be a similar “reconstruction and recovery” for Ukraine.

“Now Hiroshima has rebuilt their city, and we dream of rebuilding our cities,” he said.

There had earlier been some confusion about Bakhmut’s status, after Mr. Zelensky said “Today only Bakhmut is in our hearts”.

His office later clarified that he did not say the city had fallen.

But the Russian fighters control at least most of Bakhmut. Wagner’s mercenaries concentrated their efforts there for several months, and their relentless and costly tactics of sending in waves of men seemed to gradually erode Kiev’s resistance.

Ukrainian forces have resisted calls for a tactical withdrawal up to this point, but say that if they did withdraw it would be a “Pyrrhic victory” for the Russians.

Mr. Zelensky also hinted that his forces will continue to carry out “important work” in the region.

A senior Ukrainian general later said that Kiev forces were advancing on the outskirts of Bakhmut and approaching a “tactical encirclement” of the city.

Analysts say Bakhmut is of little strategic value to Moscow, but capturing it would be a symbolic victory for Russia after the war’s longest battle in Ukraine so far.

However, when Russia fought fiercely to capture the cities of Severodontsk and Lysichansk last summer, Ukraine quickly recaptured swathes of territory elsewhere.

No doubt it hopes to use a similar strategy for a counterattack expected this year.

Russia will feel our counterattack.

The war in Ukraine dominated a three-day summit of G7 leaders in Japan, where Zelensky met several world leaders to press for more support.

However, no country has yet committed itself to supplying jet aircraft to Ukraine.

When asked by the BBC how confident he was of getting F-16s from his allies, Mr Zelensky said: ‘We’ll work on it, I’m sure… I can’t tell you how many – it’s not a secret, we really don’t know. “

The BBC also asked him when he would start his late spring counter-offensive.

He replied: “Russia will feel when we have a counterattack.”

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