The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has returned to the front lines at Bakhmut, where violence has raged for months.
As Russian forces attempt to resume their military assault in the east, the war-ravaged city has long been a focal point.
His visit coincided with a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.
At least eight persons were killed in the vicinity of Kiev and Zaporizhia.
The Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down 16 drones, but five more evaded capture.
In an attack on student dormitories near the capital of Rzhyschiv, seven persons were killed.
Afterward, a rocket struck an apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia’s southeast, resulting in one death and 25 injuries. According to local authorities, the number of victims could climb.
While condemning Russia’s “bestial” attacks on civilians, President Zelensky also visited the eastern front line, where Ukrainian forces have kept Russia at bay for almost seven months. His last trip to the region was in December.
The footage published by the President’s office showed him distributing medals to battle-weary soldiers in an old industrial warehouse.
“I am honored to be here today in the east of our nation, in Donbas,” he told the soldiers, “to award our heroes, to thank you, and to shake your hands.”
The United Kingdom’s military intelligence reported on Wednesday that a Ukrainian counterattack to the west of Bakhmut was expected to relieve pressure on the primary supply route to the city and that Russia’s attack on the city may be losing its “limited impetus.”
The Ukrainian defense continues to be at risk of encirclement from the north and south, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Russian occupation officials in Crimea reported that a drone attack on the port city of Sevastopol had been repulsed, days after Vladimir Putin’s visit to the city.
Residents heard explosions, but the Russian-installed governor stated that three “items” aimed at the Black Sea Fleet were destroyed and that no Russian warships were injured.
The Ukrainian military did not react after announcing earlier this week that it had destroyed missiles heading for the fleet at a rail terminal in Dzhankoi, northern Crimea.
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, Ukraine’s cities were attacked by drones and afterward by missiles.
In the Kyiv region city of Rzhyshchiv, where the upper floors of two student dorms were damaged, rescue personnel sought survivors. At least seven individuals, including an ambulance driver, were slain, according to authorities. Among the nine injured was a boy 11 years old.
Some hours later, two rockets landed in nine-story apartment buildings in Zaporizhzhya, igniting two structures. Authorities reported that one person died in the hospital and another 25 were injured.
A number of apartments were demolished by the explosions, and an air force spokesman suggested they may have been struck by 120km-range Tornado-S rockets (75 miles).
Mr. Zelensky stated in a tweet that residential areas in Zaporizhzhia were being targeted and that it could not be “just another day” in Ukraine or elsewhere in the world.
The Russian attacks occurred one day after the conclusion of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Moscow to promote a 12-point peace proposal.
The Ukrainian president stated that every time “someone in Russia attempts to hear the phrase ‘peace,’ another attack order is issued.”
Earlier, President Putin stated that a number of Chinese initiatives “may serve as the basis for resolving the situation in Ukraine, once the West and Kyiv are prepared.”
The plan contains no specific ideas and does not openly demand that the Russian military withdraws from Ukrainian territory.
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