At G7, Zelenskiy says destruction of Bakhmut has echoes of Hiroshima

Leaders of the world's richest democracies said on Sunday they would not back down from supporting Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he claimed to have taken the eastern city of Bakhmut, something Kyiv denied.

The Group of Seven (G7) summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima took a dramatic turn this weekend with the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who flew in on a French government plane to canvass for greater support against Russia's invasion.

Zelenskiy, who earlier laid flowers at the cenotaph to victims of the world's first atomic bombing of a city, said photographs of Hiroshima's destruction during World War Two reminded him of Bakhmut and other destroyed Ukrainian cities.

He also told a press conference there were still soldiers in Bakhmut and the city had not been captured by Russia.

Earlier, he told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that the battered eastern city, the focus of fighting in recent months, was destroyed.

"It is tragedy," Zelenskiy said. "There is nothing on this place" - what remained was "a lot of dead Russians."

During the final day of the three-day G7 summit, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a $375 million package of military aid, including artillery and armored vehicles, for Ukraine.

He told Zelenskiy the United States was doing all it could to strengthen Ukraine's defense against Russia.

"Together with the entire G7 we have Ukraine's back and I promise we're not going anywhere," Biden said.

Putin hailed what he said was a victory for his forces, describing it as the "liberation" of Bakhmut in a statement on the Kremlin's website.

The assault on the largely levelled city was led by troops from the Wagner Group of mercenaries, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said his troops had finally pushed the Ukrainians out of the last built-up area inside the city.

Reuters