Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russian forces are not occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow’s claims that the eastern Ukrainian city has fallen.
Responding to a reporter’s question about the status of the city at the G7 (Group of Seven) meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, Mr Zelenskiy said: “Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation as of today.”
The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasion’s longest battle, and a series of comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials has added confusion to the matter.
Mr Zelenskiy’s response in English to a question earlier at the summit about the status of Bakhmut was interpreted by many as saying the city had fallen to Russian forces.
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“For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing in this place,” Mr Zelensky said in those earlier comments, adding that the fight had left nothing in Bakhmut but a lot of “dead Russians”.
Mr Zelenskiy said the eastern Ukrainian city had been destroyed and that there is “little left” of it after a lengthy military onslaught.
[ G7 summit: Ukraine’s Zelenskiy in Hiroshima as Russia warns over F-16 jetsOpens in new window ]
He added, “You have to understand that there is nothing,” saying of the Russians, “They destroyed everything.”
Russia claimed on Saturday to have fully captured the smashed eastern Ukrainian city, which if true would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war.
“It is tragedy,” Mr Zelenskiy said. “There is nothing on this place.”
US president Joe Biden said on Sunday he had received a “flat assurance” from Mr Zelenskiy that Ukraine’s forces would not use western-provided F-16 fighter jets over Russian territory.
Mr Biden told reporters in Hiroshima, Japan, at the conclusion of the G7 meeting that F-16 aircraft could be used “wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area”.
He said it was “highly unlikely” the jets would be used in any Ukrainian offensive in the coming weeks, but that Ukrainian troops could need such weapons to defend themselves against Russian forces beyond their current reach.
Mr Biden also announced $375 million (€346 million) more worth of aid for Ukraine, which included ammunition, artillery and vehicles.
“I thanked him for the significant financial assistance to [Ukraine] from [the US],” Mr Zelensky tweeted later.
The assault on the largely levelled city of Bakhmut was led by troops from the Wagner Group of mercenaries, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said earlier in the day that his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city.
Kyiv had previously denied Prigozhin’s claim.
Mr Zelenskiy continued to seek global support on Sunday for Kyiv’s plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, telling G7 leaders the plan was “an obvious expression of rationality”.
Mr Zelenskiy has in recent months been promoting what his administration has billed as a “peace formula”.
“We’re united by one more principle – rationality,” he said in a speech to the leaders, the text of which was posted to the president’s website.
“We always act practically protecting our values. And the Ukrainian peace formula is an obvious expression of rationality. I thank you for supporting our formula.”
In a separate social media post, Mr Zelenskiy said he had presented the plan to G7 leaders at the Hiroshima summit. “We have developed the peace formula in a way that ensures each of its points is backed by UN resolutions,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“And in a way that everyone in the world can choose the track they can contribute to. From Japan to the Arab countries, from Europe to Latin America, we find support for our formula.”
Mr Zelenskiy has pushed western allies and other countries to go further on both economic and military measures to support Kyiv as Russia’s 15-month invasion drags on.
Russian president Vladimir Putin on Sunday congratulated the Wagner mercenary force and the Russian army for what he called the “liberation” of Bakhmut, which Russia refers to by its Soviet-era name, Artyomovsk.
In a statement published on the Kremlin website, Putin said the battle – the longest and bloodiest of the war – had ended in Russian victory, and that all those who had “excelled” in it on Moscow’s side would be given state awards.
“The head of state congratulated Wagner’s assault groups, as well as all members of the units of the Russian Armed Forces who provided them with the necessary support and cover on their flanks, on the completion of the operation to liberate Artyomovsk [Bakhmut],” the statement said. – Reuters/AP