Zelenski secretly visits the frontline in Lisichansk, in the Lugansk region

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky paid a secret visit on Tuesday to the city of Lisichansk, in the eastern region of Lugansk, one of the main disputed territories where the biggest offensive by the Russian army is taking place these days, according to The Kyiv Independent. 

According to Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezugla, the president recently and "secretly" visited this key town near the front line, amid heavy fighting in nearby Severodonetsk. 

She did not provide further details about the visit, which is not the first visit Zelensky has made to an area where Russian shelling is taking place. On 18 June, Zelenski visited the Mikolayev region, on the war front with the Russian army in the south of the country, in what was one of his first trips out of the capital since the start of the war in February. 

And two weeks earlier, Zelenski left Kiev for the first time since the start of the war for a trip to Kharkov in the north-east of the country, and since then has also gone to the Zaporiyia region on the southern front. He also travelled to the residential town of Bucha, the main focus of the massacre perpetrated by Russian forces. 

Lisichansk, located a few kilometres from the city of Severodonetsk, is almost entirely controlled by Russian troops except for an industrial zone where the Azot chemical factory is located. According to the local authorities, more than 500 civilians and an undetermined number of Ukrainian soldiers who have refused to be evacuated are still holding out in these facilities.