Zelenskyy calls Donbas battle 'painful and challenging' as Bakhmut encircled by Wagner

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called the ongoing battle in the eastern Donbas region "painful and difficult" as he paid tribute to the soldiers. Evoking the loss of troops in the city of Bakhmut that Russia's shadowy mercenaries group Wagner declared was encircled, Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine will defend "fortress Bakhmut" for as long as it takes.

"I would like to pay special tribute to the bravery, strength and resilience of the soldiers fighting in the Donbas," Zelenskyy said in a video address, adding "this is one of the hardest battles. Painful and difficult."

An 'extremely difficult situation' in Donbas

The contentious eastern Donbas region of Ukraine comprises Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia's President Vladimir Putin had annexed earlier last year after Russian forces occupied some of the regions. This week, the besieged industrial city of Bakhmut witnessed an extremely difficult situation as Wagner fighters intensified the battle. Wagner chief E.V. Prigozhin, dubbed as Putin's chef, asked Ukraine's President Zelenskyy to "save his soldiers, who would be killed if they did not surrender."

The entire city of Bakhmut, which has symbolic importance to the war, has been reduced to rubble as fighting is continuing for every house and street. Zelenskyy thanked his troops for "repelling assaults, destroying the occupier, undermining enemy positions and logistics, and protecting our borders and cities." Prigozhin, in a visual shared by his press service on Telegram also showed several captured Ukrainian soldiers, one of whom appeared to be a minor. Wagner's head stated that his forces were now fighting against "old men and children rather than the professional Ukrainian army."

The Wagner paramilitary group units "have practically surrounded Bakhmut, only one road remains to leave the city," Wagner chief Prigozhin said, calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "to abandon the city immediately."

In other developments, the Russian armed forces declared that they had hit a command centre of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. In a statement published on Monday, Russia's Ministry of Defense [MoD] said that its forces have struck the Azov Regiment, whom Moscow labels as the far-right and ultra-nationalist organization incorporated in Ukraine's National Guard. Azov fighters gained popularity for their resistance to the Russian siege of Mariupol's steel works plant, last year.