"Our soldiers are in Bakhmut," Zelensky says

From CNN's Maria Kostenko, Allegra Goodwin and Sarah Dean

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the G7 summit on May 21, in Hiroshima, Japan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the G7 summit on May 21, in Hiroshima, Japan. Louise
Delmotte/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again denied that Bakhmut is occupied by Russia, saying
Ukrainian soldiers remain in the city.

“We are keeping on, we are fighting,” Zelensky said at a news conference at the G7 in Japan.

“I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I can't share the tactics of the military, but a country
even bigger than ours cannot defeat us. A little time will pass and we will be winning. Today our soldiers
are in Bakhmut. I will not share the locations,” Zelensky said.

“Bakhmut is not occupied by Russian Federation as of today. There are no two or three interpretations of
those words,” he added.

There are conflicting reports about who controls Bakhmut and CNN is unable to independently verify
battlefield claims.

Zelensky's comments come after Russia’s Wagner mercenary group on Saturday claimed to have finally
taken the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the scene of bitter fighting for months.

1 hr 29 min ago

"We dream of peace after our victory," Zelensky tells G7

From CNN's Allegra Goodwin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said what he has seen in Hiroshima, Japan, is similar to “the
ruins of (Ukrainian) cities which have been burned to the ground by Russian bombs and artillery."

Speaking during a news conference at the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Sunday, he said Hiroshima is
now a rebuilt city and Ukrainians “dream of rebuilding all our cities that are now in ruins, and every
village where not a single house is left intact after Russian strikes."

“We dream of returning our territories, just as we have regained our northern territories which were
occupied by Russia. We must regain our eastern and southern territories of Ukraine.

“We dream of returning our people who are now in Russian captivity. These are prisoners of war and
civilians, deported adults and also abducted children. We dream of winning, we dream of peace after
our victory,” Zelensky said.

Some context: G7 talks culminated Sunday with a series of dramatic, in-person appeals from Zelensky as
he pressed leaders gathered in Japan to remain united against Russian aggression.

Zelensky’s decision to travel halfway across the world to deliver his entreaties to the world’s major
industrial democracies in person underscored both the unity and the uncertainty leaders find themselves
in fourteen months since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine began.