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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 300: President Zelenskyy Goes to Bakhmut!

War for Ukraine Day 300: President Zelenskyy Goes to Bakhmut!

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(Image by NEIVANMADE)

President Zelenskyy made an unannounced appearance in Bakhmut today to see the forward most edge of the battle area and award medals and citations to Ukrainian military personnel:

He is now on his way to Washington, DC!

Here’s his address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

I’ve returned from the Donetsk region, from our Bakhmut fortress. I was there today to support our fighters, to present state awards, to express gratitude to them. To all our heroes – those who defend not only Bakhmut there, and not only our Donbas, but also the whole of Ukraine. We all should understand this.

You know, on the way to the frontline, today I also passed through Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka… Cities, villages near them, which are now literally fighting for life. Life for all of us – for all Ukrainians and for everything Ukrainian, and even more so – for everything and everyone who preserves humanity inside.

Look at Russia’s offensive, what it leaves where it takes its flag. Burned earth, destroyed life… Pain, ruins and graves – this is the so-called “Russian world”. This is what our heroes stop.

This is exactly what they are expelling from Ukraine, step by step returning life to our land, where the occupiers set foot. And for this movement to exist, for our border to exist, for us to return the Ukrainian flag to the cities and villages in the south and east of our state, there is Bakhmut, there is a fortress, there are our heroic defenders.

Every day they endured there, every hit they withstood there, every attack they repelled and every counterattack they carried out is a life for Ukraine.

I thank all our warriors who defend the #bakhmutfortress! I am grateful to all mothers and fathers, wives and children of our heroes who are saving Ukraine right there! And I am asking all our people: wherever you are, please support the Ukrainian heroes who are holding out against the fiercest attacks of the occupiers, against the most insane Russian strikes…

Support our Bakhmut – tattered yet unconquered – and his defenders.

We will do everything possible and impossible, expected and unexpected, so that our heroes have everything they need to prevail. To get the results that all Ukrainians expect. That all our cities and villages on the frontline are waiting for. This is Maryinka, this is Vuhledar, this is Toretsk, this is Soledar, Klishchiivka… This is our Luhansk region, this is our south of Ukraine, this is our Crimea. Ukraine will leave nothing of its own to the enemy.

This week is extremely important for Ukraine – in order to get through this winter and next year. In order to gain the necessary support and for the Ukrainian flag to finally prevail on all sections of our border – the border of Ukraine.

Our fighters gave me our flag today and asked to pass it on to those whose decisions are very important for Ukraine, for all our warriors. We will definitely do it. We will definitely endure. We will definitely get the necessary support for Ukraine!

Glory to all the guards of the Bakhmut fortress! Glory to all who fight for our country!

Glory to our indomitable and beautiful people!

And eternal memory and honor to all Ukrainians whose lives were taken by this cruel war!

Glory to Ukraine!

Here is former NAVDEVGRU Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer’s most recent assessment of the situations in Izium and Bakhmut:

Also, apparently Ukraine reached out and touched some things in Belgorod and Trubchesk in Russia:

Mariupol:

(Image also by NEIVENMADE)

That’s it for tonight. Was a long day, I’m in the middle of trying to do three things and may only get through two (this is one of them). Tomorrow will also be a minimalist post.

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Open thread!

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  1. 1.

    Gin & Tonic

    No problem with a short post, I still haven’t finished the reading assignment from Saturday.

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    Leaks from Congress or the Administration, presumably. Washington. Sigh. Still, coordinating an address to a joint session of Congress seems like the sort of thing that needs at least a day or so of advance notice to a lot of people, so I guess it isn’t too surprising that it leaked early.  The Post said that Pelosi asked lawmakers to stay put without telling them why:

    Without disclosing Zelensky’s visit, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent a letter to her colleagues Tuesday, asking lawmakers to be “physically present” for a “very special focus on Democracy” on Wednesday night. The letter set off a scramble among lawmakers who had already left Washington.

    It’s good that he and Biden will finally meet in person.

  3. 3.

    Alison Rose

    Like I said this morning, seeing Zelenskyy in Bakhmut made me feel both full of admiration and also abject terror. I was like, God it’s amazing to see him there but also OMG GO BACK TO YOUR BUNKER! But honestly, he just  keeps impressing me more and more, even now. I admit to also being very nervous about his trip to the US, but am glad he’s going.

    Thank you as always, Adam–minimalist or not :)

  10. 10.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Andrya: I know no more about his travel logistics than you do, but since February 24, travel to/from Ukraine means air to/from Poland and overland between Poland and Ukraine.

  12. 12.

    oldster

    I wish him a very safe flight, and a productive time in D.C.

    I hope he can talk Biden into some nice Christmas presents (or Hannukah presents, depending), like extended range HIMARS, maybe a few hundred M1 Abrams, a few dozen F-16s, and every other damn thing the man asks for.

    Off-topic, I loved Biden’s answer to the little girl about being president: know whom you want to help, and what you will not do for victory. Very wise.  We’re lucky to have Biden for president right now, and — back on topic — Zelensky is lucky to have Biden in the White House.

  13. 13.

    Ksmiami

    @oldster: the thing is, the fact that so many in the GOP and Fox is supporting Russia is a travesty and we really need to call out the traitor trash at every opportunity.

  14. 14.

    Kent

    Shooting down a civilian plane over NATO airspace would be an act of war against NATO.   (Zelensky’s plane is a civilian plane).  As would crossing NATO airspace to shoot down a plane over the North Atlantic.  I’m not sure how Russia would manage to get a plane from a Russian airbase out to the central Atlantic and back without crossing NATO airspace.  They don’t have carriers in the North Atlantic or any bases there.

  16. 16.

    oldster

    @Ksmiami:

    Agreed. It’s just possible that this visit will not only help Ukraine, but also change a few minds here in the States, or at least make it clear to more people that Cucker, MTG, and that whole sick crew are the pawns of putin and the enemies of freedom and democracy everywhere.

  20. 20.

    El Cruzado

    @Kent: It’s mostly straight from Northern Russia to the North Atlantic through the Arctic but the distance is probably still too long for combat planes to go and back even with additional fuel tanks.

  22. 22.

    Bill Arnold

    @dmsilev:

    Leaks from Congress or the Administration, presumably. Washington.

    If the leak(s) was(were) intentional, I hope the leaker(s) is(are) identified. (Could be a leak outside the US, e.g. in Ukraine or anywhere along th eland route.) And that they worry that they will get kneecapped with an electric drill the rest of their lives. (If it’s a foreign intelligence service that intercepted sloppy comms, same.)

  23. 23.

    Bill Arnold

    @japa21:

    He has gonads of titanium.

    From that NYTimes piece (hit x to stop load soon as text appears):

    “The situation is difficult but stable,” Mr. Prigozhin said in the Oct. 14 post. “The Ukrainians are offering dignified resistance. The legend about Ukrainians running away is just that, a legend. Ukrainians are guys with steel balls just like us. This isn’t a bad thing. As Slavs, we should take pride in this.”

    I wonder if Mr. Prigozhin will feel compelled to visit the front as well, in response.

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    @Bill Arnold:

    I wonder if Mr. Prigozhin will feel compelled to visit the front as well, in response.

    BBC was talking a day or two ago about a video of RU Defense Minister Shoigu supposedly visiting the troops in Ukraine. But it was just video of a helicopter and then of some trenches. (It was unclear if he was in the shot with the trenches or not.) So it was impossible to confirm that he actually went.

    Fake visits to the troops. Pretty clear who actually has the balls here, and actually cares about their troops.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    @Bill Arnold: The oldest APNews.com story I’ve been able to find:

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing to visit Washington on Wednesday, according to three AP sources, in his first known trip outside the country since Russia’s invasion began in February.

    Two congressional sources and one person familiar with the matter confirmed plans for the visit. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the highly sensitive nature of the trip. They said Zelenskyy’s visit, while expected, could still be called off at the last minute due to security concerns.

    […]

    It sounds like an intentional leak to me, but I’m no expert. Given that Pelosi wants good attendance, for good and sensible reasons, it’s probably unreasonable to expect that it could be kept secret indefinitely.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    HinTN

    What I like is that he does not salute! He waits and shakes hands. That’s civilian leadership done right! Also, it’s great that he’s coming here. BRAVO!!!

  33. 33.

    Carlo Graziani

    You know, I feel like an idiot, but I never checked to see whether Belgorod itself is inside HIMARS range of Ukrainian territory.  And you know what? It certainly is, about 60 km from the outskirts of Kharkhiv.

    And some nice fat logistical targets there, too. But the Ukrainians haven’t gone there, until today. And if Pfarrer is to be believed, they are striking power infrastructure.

    That’s difficult to interpret. I suppose it could mean that the Ukrainians have not been free to strike strictly military targets inside Russia so far, because of restrictions placed on them by the US, but those restrictions are now being loosened in consequence of Russia’s missile barrages against civilian power infrastructure.

    If that’s the case, Belgorod is about to get a proper ass-kicking.

  43. 43.

    Jay

    🔥Russia claiming destruction of 120th HIMARSRussian sources report the alleged destruction of another 2 HIMARS without specifying where, when or how they did it.— Dmitri (@wartranslated) December 20, 2022

    While it’s possible in theory, so far, Russia hasn’t managed to destroy a single HIMARS in Ukraine or to find a feasible strategy to do so.— Dmitri (@wartranslated) December 20, 2022

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    In case anything happens to Zelenskyy en route to/from the US (God forbid), who is the Vice-President of Ukraine, and what do we know about them?

  45. 45.

    Alison Rose

    @Amir Khalid: IIRC from early on in the war, the leader or whatever they call it of the Rada would become president at least on an interim basis. But I’m not sure if that’s accurate or what would happen next.

    But also KNOCK WOOD AND DON’T SAY THAT AGAIN.

  46. 46.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Amir Khalid: Like Adam said, there’s going to be total NATO control of the space-time volume cushioning his trip, with extremely lethal consequences to any Russian effort to approach that volume.  The Russians don’t have any kind of precision long-distance weapons left that they could use even if they took leave of their senses, and none of their aircraft could get within fifty miles without getting greased.

    Anyway, they couldn’t even get at Zelenskyy when he was a mile away from them in Bakhmut. He’ll be fine.

  47. 47.

    Alison Rose

    Just tweeted:

    On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of 🇺🇦. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between 🇺🇦 and 🇺🇸. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings.
    — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022

    Thinking about the combo of the flight length plus the time change…I’d be a damn zombie for a solid day after that. Although Ze seems to be able to function quite well on very little sleep.

  48. 48.

    sab

    Just wondering, who the phuck talks “off the record” to reporters about a sensitive visit of someone like Zelenskyi?  Where is the fine line drawn between the 4th estate and mere paparazzi who will do anything for money?

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    There is a fairly long article about President Zelensky’s Washington trip in Politico titled “What Zelensky wants- and is unlikely to get- from Biden.” The story is datelined 1:02am this morning.

    The “What” from the headline are ATACMS missiles and Grey Eagle and Reaper drones. The reporters review the arguments made by Ukrainian defense officials for provision of these weapons and the (familiar) reasons U.S. officials give for not providing them. The newest package of U.S. military aid to Ukraine is also detailed.

    Probably the more important aspect of the trip is the opportunity for President Zelensky to fortify support for his country among the American public and within Congress. With Republicans controlling the House (albeit by a very narrow margin), passing aid packages will be problematic and the reporters get into this question some. But it sounds to me like we won’t know how successful the anti-Ukraine faction can be in obstructing aid until the next Congress gets going.

    Meanwhile, the size of the Ukraine aid component in the pending Omnibus spending bill still is not definite. The figure of $11 billion comes up in reporting. Senate leaders hope to pass the bill by tomorrow night but this Congress may have to return next week to finish its work.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Correction: that figure of $11 billion for Ukraine aid in the pending omnibus bill was way too low. Several news sites reported yesterday that the omnibus bill includes around $45 billion in aid for Ukraine.

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