Ukraine's Zelenskiy visits front line to meet marines

[May 23, 2023]  KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he had visited marines on the eastern front line to thank them for their role in resisting Russia's invasion.

Video footage posted on social media showed Zelenskiy, dressed in a military khaki sweatshirt and khaki trousers, handing out awards to dozens of male and female marines in combat gear on the national Day of the Ukrainian Marines.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy awards a Ukrainian Marine during a celebration of the Ukrainian Marines Day at a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in an unknown location, Ukraine May 23, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

"Happy Marines Day, especially to such strong people who are in one of the hottest but also one of the strongest ... sectors - the Vuhledar-Marinka direction," Zelenskiy said.

Ukraine's military said in a daily update that its forces had repelled numerous enemy attacks on the city of Marinka, which lies in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Fighting has been fierce in Donetsk, one of four regions that Russia proclaimed as its own last September after what Ukraine and its allies denounced as a "sham" referendum following Moscow's full-scale invasion.

Zelenskiy also handed out decorations to commanders of several marine units. He said the Ukrainian government would create a specialised marines corps and promised to provide new weapons and equipment.

(Reporting by Max Hunder and Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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