Trips by the President of Ukraine outside of Kyiv have been rare since the Russian invasion began.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose trips outside the capital Kyiv have been infrequent since the Russian invasion began, visited the Black Sea-washed regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa in southern Ukraine for the first time on Saturday.
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A video released by the Ukrainian Presidency shows him inspecting a badly damaged apartment building and meeting with local officials in Mykolaiv.
Mykolaiv, a pre-war port and industrial city of nearly half a million people, is still under Ukrainian control but is near the Russian-held Kherson region. It remains a Moscow destination because it is on the way to Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port, 130 km to the south-west.
The visit comes a day after a Russian attack in the city killed two and wounded 20. In the video, local governor Vitaliy Kim Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows the gaping facade of the regional administration’s headquarters, which was hit by a Russian attack in March that killed 37 people. According to his press service, Volodymyr Zelenskyy then went to the Ukrainian positions in this region and in the neighboring Odessa region.
“I want to thank you from the people of Ukraine, from our state, for your great work and heroic service,” he told the military in the Odessa region. “It is important that you live. As long as you live, there is a strong Ukrainian wall protecting our country,” he continued.
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The President also attended a meeting with local officials in Mykolaiv in what appeared to be an underground cellar, where he presented awards for bravery. “Particular attention was paid to land and sea threats. We never stop working for victory,” the presidency said in a statement.
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