Deja vu: Zelensky comes to Bakhmut on the eve of defeat,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decorated soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the line of contact in Bakhmut (the Russian name of the city is Artemovsk). This is an element of deja vu in relation to Soledar, when the Russian forces took the city after a similar publicity stunt.

The video of the ceremony was published by countless news outlets. Ukrainian channels indicate that Zelensky's trip to Bakhmut came in response to Putin's recent trip to Mariupol. Legitimny Telegram channel said that the meeting with the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine took place in an "abandoned" hangar in the village of Konstantinovka.

According to Telegram channel of the 93rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this is a real front line, albeit not the first one. The video produced a "depressing impression” on the Ukrainian serviceman:

"The faces of the fighters, their eyes. There is something between grief, fatigue and fatalism in them. Some others clearly give this infamous "two thousand yard stare."

Zelensky himself, the author continues, "looks exhausted.” Everyone tries to smile on such occasions,"but this is the smile of the people who understood and accepted their position."

Things on the eastern front worse than ever

Ukrainian soldiers really have nothing to rejoice at: the counter-offensive against Bakhmut promised by their president is constantly being postponed. Allegedly, it is the warm weather that ruined the roads. Ukraine could have unblocked the city in February, though.

Zelensky has nothing to rejoice at either. Two more traps emerge in addition to the one in Bakhmut — in Avdiivka and Seversk.

In Bakhmut itself, the Armed Forces of Ukraine retreated from the territory of the AZOM plant, Whisper of the Front Telegram channel says. Now PMC Wagner fighters have a direct path to the center from all directions, blogger Ruslan Tatarinov said.

According to Resident Telegram channel, the Russian army has changed tactics and is now surrounding the AFU grouping inside Bakhmut, recapturing several residential blocks a day. The newly supplied tanks get "simply burned in the city and make no use in battle."

Bakhmut has been blocked almost entirely, Yan Gagin, adviser to the acting head of the DPR said.

Failing in the struggle for the souls of his people is the worst thing that Zelensky may face.

There is a video on the Internet, in which Ukrainian soldiers convince an elderly woman to evacuate. The woman says no and wonders whether the soldiers are going to destroy her house. This paradox may say it all.