Volodymyr Zelensky visits troops defending front-line city of Pokrovsk ahead of Saudi talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited troops at a front-line position near the embattled city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
The trip came ahead of Monday’s ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia.
US negotiators will meet separately with Ukrainian and Russian delegations.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.In videos shared on social media on Saturday, Zelensky is seen awarding medals to soldiers and holding a briefing at a command post.
Pokrovsk has been a target of Russian attacks since the middle of 2024.
While some Russian forces have advanced to positions south-west of the city, they have recently failed to make further territorial gains.
The complete capture of Donetsk remains one of Russia’s primary military objectives in its full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year.
In September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya - although Russian forces only partially control those areas.
Russia had previously annexed Crimea in 2014.
At a recent meeting with business leaders, Putin reportedly warned that Moscow could lay claim to additional Ukrainian territories.
Meanwhile, Putin is pressuring Ukrainians in Russia and in occupied territories in their home country to take Russian citizenship or live elsewhere, according to British intelligence on Saturday.
Putin signed a decree on Thursday that obliges Ukrainian citizens residing in affected territories to “settle their legal status” by September 10, or leave the area, the Ministry of Defence in London wrote in its latest intelligence update on the Ukraine war.
“Putin’s decree is almost certainly intended to force the departure from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Ukrainian citizens who refuse to accept Russian passports and citizenship,” the report shared on X said.
The Kremlin continues to pursue a policy of “Russification” on illegally occupied territory in Ukraine as part of “long-standing efforts to extirpate Ukrainian culture, identity and statehood,” it added.
