Kiev, 22 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has travelled to the vicinity of the heavily contested city of Bakhmut and paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers fighting there against Russian forces, according to a video released on Wednesday.

"I saw a lot of destruction today in the surrounding area. But the most important thing is victory," he said in the video.

Everything will be rebuilt, he promised.

He also visited a military hospital with the military governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Russia has been at war with neighbouring Ukraine for more than a year. Including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, Moscow has annexed a total of five Ukrainian regions in violation of international law.