President Volodymyr Zelensky has marked Ukraine’s Defenders Day holiday with a visit to troops deployed on the front line in the eastern region of Donetsk, where Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for more than five years.
Zelensky, who rose to the presidency earlier this year on promises to end the conflict, on October 14 thanked Ukrainian troops for their “bravery” in defending the country in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
