Ukraine clarifies Zelensky’s comments on status of Bakhmut: ‘It is not occupied by Russia’
- President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments were misunderstood, his spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov said
- Zelensky’s statement had been widely interpreted as confirmation that the city had fallen to the Kremlin’s forces.
Kiyv has clarified comments made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky concerning the status of the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, after his remarks initially caused confusion.
Zelensky’s comments were misunderstood, his spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov said on Facebook.
He said Zelensky’s response, “I don’t think so,” was made in answer to a reporter’s statement that the Russians were claiming to have overpowered the city.
Zelensky’s statement had been widely interpreted as confirmation that the city has fallen to the Kremlin’s forces.
The Ukrainian leader’s comments came during a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the summit of seven leading industrialised powers in Japan. Asking whether Bakhmut was still in Ukrainian hands, the reporter added that Moscow was claiming to have taken Bakhmut.
“I don’t think so,” Zelensky said.
He added that the city was almost entirely destroyed, with no buildings left “and a lot of dead Russians.”
He said Russian troops were in Bakhmut – which Moscow claimed it captured a day earlier – but insisted the east Ukrainian city was “not occupied”.
“Today they [Russian troops] are in Bakhmut”, Zelensky said at a press conference during the G7 summit in Hiroshima. But he added: “Bakhmut is not occupied by Russia today”.
There have been conflicting reports and claims over the status of the embattled city in eastern Ukraine after months of fighting.
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, first announced the city had fallen. His fighters are supporting Russian soldiers in the war. Later, Moscow confirmed his claim.
But Kyiv did not confirm the city’s fall and the Ukrainian general staff said fighting continues in Bakhmut, in their morning report.
