President Volodymyr Zelenskiy concluded a "long and emotional day" in the city of Poltava in eastern Ukraine on April 18 after visiting Ukrainian forces near the front line in the Donetsk region where heavy fighting has been under way.
Zelenskiy said in his evening video message that he visited soldiers who have been "restraining and gradually destroying this Russian evil for 419 days and nine years," a reference to fighting that broke out in 2014 between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
He said he "had the honor to congratulate Ukrainian soldiers and officers on Easter [and] to present awards." Easter Sunday for Orthodox Christians was on April 16.
Zelenskiy also said that he had a conversation with U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy (Republican-California), speaker of the House of Representatives, from Poltava.
He said he briefed McCarthy about what is happening at the front, described Ukraine's defense needs and capabilities, and discussed establishing a tribunal to adjudicate Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He also invited McCarthy to visit Ukraine.
The president's office reported that Zelenskiy also visited wounded servicemen in the hospital in Poltava and presented awards. He visited a hospital in the Donetsk region earlier in the day and also presented awards there.
Zelenskiy toured the Ukrainian military's advanced positions in Avdiyivka, which together with Bakhmut and Maryinka has been the focal point of Russia's monthslong offensive that was met with fierce resistance by Kyiv's forces, the presidential office said on April 18.
Zelenskiy's visit to the Donetsk region came just hours after the Kremlin announced that President Vladimir Putin had made a rare trip to the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Luhansk to visit Russian military headquarters and meet with commanders.
"The president is conducting inspections of military headquarters and is getting current firsthand information on the spot about progress in the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, using the term Moscow has coined to describe its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter that Putin was touring "the occupied and ruined territories to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time."
The Kremlin also released footage purportedly showing Putin receiving reports from military commanders in the Russian-controlled part of Kherson before traveling by helicopter to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard in the Luhansk region.
Russia in September announced the annexation of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhya, Ukrainian regions -- following what were widely considered to be sham referendums -- that Moscow only partially controls, in a move rejected by most of the world as illegal.
The footage released by the Kremlin could not be independently verified.
Peskov told journalists that the president made the trip on April 17, although in the original Kremlin video, according to the Agentsvo publication, Putin could be seen and heard saying Orthodox Easter, celebrated on April 16, "will" be coming. However, the word "will" appears to have been subsequently edited from the footage.
"It was yesterday," Peskov told journalists on April 18.
"The fact is that our Easter lasts 40 days and we continue celebrating it, now we have Easter week."
On the battle front, Russian forces used aircraft to unleash fresh assaults on Ukrainian positions in the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said on April 18.
Indiscriminate shelling of Luhansk and Kherson killed several civilians and caused extensive infrastructure damage, according to regional officials.
Over the 24-hour period that ended early on April 18, the Ukrainian military repelled more than 70 enemy attacks on Bakhmut and Maryinka, which remain the epicenter of hostilities, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its daily report.
IN PHOTOS: Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front line in Bakhmut are rotated out for some much-needed rest and recuperation before they are sent back in.
Weary But Not Beaten: Ukrainian Soldiers Return From Bakhmut To Fight Another Day
The battle for Bakhmut in particular has turned into one of the bloodiest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with both sides reportedly suffering heavy casualties.
Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, reported heavy fighting in Bakhmut as Russian troops attack from the air with heavy artillery. However, he said that "the situation is under control at this point."
In the Luhansk region, Russian shelling killed at least three people and wounded one in the village of Novoyehorivka, the head of the regional military administration, Artem Lysohor, said on April 18.
Lysohor said that in recent days Russian forces have been continuously using aircraft to bomb liberated settlements in the area.
In the Kherson region, one person was killed and several others were wounded by Russian shelling, according to Oleh Prokudin, head of the regional military administration.
