The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized tonight that his country’s army gives a “painful and difficult” battle against Russian forces in the Donbas region, where the city of Bakhmut is located, around which heavy fighting has been going on for months.

“I would like to pay special tribute to the bravery, strength and resistance of the soldiers fighting in Donbas,” Zelensky said in his daily address, adding that this battle “it’s one of the hardest.”

Although its strategic importance is disputed by experts, Bakhmut has become a symbol of the war for control of the industrial region of Donbass, a basin made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Russia proceeded to annex it, although it does not fully control it.

Zelensky also thanked the Ukrainian soldiers who “they repulsed the attacks, destroyed the conqueror, weakened the enemy’s positions and logistics, and protected our borders and cities.”

“I thank all the army, the border guards who defend our state around Bakhmut, Ugledar, Avdiyfka, Shiversk, Svatove, Liman and Zaporizhia,” he added.

In its daily report, Ukraine’s army general staff reported that “more than 130 enemy attacks” had been repulsed in the past 24 hours, in many parts of the front – mainly in Kupyansk, Liman, Bakhmut and Avdiivka. “The enemy continues its efforts to surround the city of Bahamut”he added, without further elaboration.

Donetsk’s pro-Russian separatist forces released a video purportedly showing fighters from the Wagner mercenary group in the northern suburbs of Bakhmut and said they had captured Stupki, a small railway station in the north of the city. Wagner claimed Friday that she has “essentially surrounded” the city.