Ukraine's president visits troops in Zaporizhzhia region

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the country’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region Tuesday, where he held talks with troops and military commanders.

“Today I continue to visit our combat brigades. Yesterday we were in the Donetsk region, and today, various districts of the Zaporizhzhia region, the territory of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops,” Zelenskyy said in a video address shared on Telegram.

He said that he and Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of the Tavria operational and strategic group of troops, visited the positions of the various operational, mechanized and airmobile brigades.

Zelenskyy further said that he visited surgical units on the frontline with Russia, where he thanked combat medics for “saving Ukrainian lives.”

“I spoke with the brigade commanders and battalion commanders about the needs of our warriors -- what they really feel on the frontline. Everything the guys talked about will be voiced at the Staff,” he added.

He said specific needs were defined following his meetings in the region, namely more electronic warfare equipment, drones and medevac armored evacuation vehicles.

“The training of soldiers is one of the key tasks. We talked about it,” he said.

"When there is such communication – brigade by brigade – and everyone has real combat experience, then it is possible to assess the situation much more deeply, to see how the specific experience of one brigade can be applied by other units and scaled to all our defense forces.

“Real combat experience, modern challenges and trends on the battlefield, fire (exercises) and maneuver(s), the skills that our soldiers have and which must be extended to all brigades and made a priority in training centers, especially during the training of the mobilized," he added.

Zelenskyy also went on to thank those that worked on eliminating the consequences of Russian missile strikes earlier in the day.

“Every day, we must remember that the steps forward of our warriors on the frontline bring security and protection closer to all our cities and villages. And the more powerful our air defense system is, the more opportunities the rear regions have to work for defense,” he added.