And even just before we spoke this morning here, the political leader came out and said Ukraine is suffering some setbacks. Over the weekend, Ukraine said they pushed back, recaptured part of the city. And just a few days ago, even the Ukrainian leaders were saying Russia had about 80% of this city. MYRE: Well, the Russians have really concentrated their firepower in - not only in the east, but in a pretty particular part of the east, around this city of Severodonetsk. He met civilians also and said, quote, "I'm proud of everybody I met, everyone I shook hands with, everyone whom I connected with." Now, this is hundreds of miles from the capital, Kyiv, and he presumably traveled by road - really reflects the critical phase of fighting in the east right now. But also, Russian troops are pretty close in the north and the south. So he was just a few miles west of those troops. This city has been the scene of the heaviest fighting the past couple weeks. That's very much within Russian artillery range. He traveled to near the town of Severodonetsk. Obviously, this was not announced in advance. INSKEEP: How dramatic was this frontline visit? INSKEEP: NPR's Greg Myre is in Kyiv and is following this visit.
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He asks them to stay safe since the land means nothing without its people. He urges his troops to win, but not at any cost.
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He's wearing his signature green army T-shirt. Video released today shows Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting with frontline troops. Ukraine's war is now concentrated near its eastern border, and that is where the country's president appeared over the weekend.