The leaders visited separate parts of the country to rally their respective troops

 
Leaders of both Ukraine and Russia traveled to the war’s front lines, as Russian forces stepped up heavy artillery bombardments and air strikes on the devastated Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited wounded soldiers at a hospital in Donetsk, and addressed troops in the small eastern city of Avdiivka.

This one of the main targets of a recent Russian offensive intended to reinvigorate Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin met his commanders in two regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed.

Putin asked his commanders for updates on the regions during the visit.

Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk are the four regions that Putin proclaimed annexed last September following what Ukraine said were sham referendums. Russian forces only partly control the areas.

Fighting has raged in and around Bakhmut in Donetsk region for months, with Ukrainian forces holding out despite regular claims by Russia to have taken the city.

Footage released by Ukraine’s border guard service showed smoke pouring from the ruined city, as soldiers engaged in fire fights in the streets.

To the south, regional officials in Kherson said a Russian artillery attack on a market Tuesday killed one person and injured nine more.

The Kherson Regional State Administration published a video showing a body on ground while paramedics treated the wounded.

Ukrainian troops recaptured Kherson last November after nearly eight months of occupation by Russian forces.

The area is now under frequent fire from Russian troops entrenched across the Dnipro River.