Zelensky visits troops of Ukraine’s 31st Brigade on Oleksandrivka front

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the command post of the 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade named after General-Cornet Leonid Stupnytskyi during a working trip to the Oleksandrivka sector of the front.

This is according to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

“At the command post of the 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade named after General-Cornet Leonid Stupnytskyi, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi met with the unit’s servicemen. The 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade is conducting defensive operations in the Oleksandrivka sector, located at the junction of the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions,” the statement said.

Syrskyi reported to the President that despite the declared ceasefire, Russian forces had not reduced their assault operations. Zelensky also received a briefing from brigade commander Ivan Shalamaha on the operational situation within the brigade’s defense zone, coordination with neighboring units conducting counteroffensive operations in the area, and efforts to push Russian troops back toward the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Zelensky thanked the troops for their service and awarded them the Orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Third Class, as well as the Orders For Courage, Second and Third Class.

“I want to thank you on this day and wish you victory in our war. Thank you for defending Ukraine and our sovereignty. I am confident that having defeated one Nazism, we will defeat another. I wish health to your families and loved ones. Stay strong and take care of yourselves. Today, the defense of our state rests on your shoulders,” the President said.

Zelensky also discussed with battalion and company commanders the service of foreign fighters within the brigade, including their recruitment, training, and integration.

In addition, the meeting focused in detail on the development of ground robotic systems. Soldiers of the 31st Brigade presented their own distributed logistics system using small, low-cost drones, which helps reduce material losses. According to the brigade, drones now carry out 60% of its logistics operations.

Special attention was also given to the possibility of allocating dedicated funding for brigade-level innovation and research-and-development projects. Zelensky said the relevant government agencies and military officials would further examine the proposal.

As reported earlier, on March 30, Syrskyi stated that Ukraine’s Defense Forces had liberated 480 square kilometers of territory in the Oleksandrivka sector.

He also said that beginning March 1, Russian forces had planned a large-scale offensive across all 13 main frontline directions, but were forced to revise those plans and redeploy part of their forces and equipment from the Pokrovsk and Ocheretyne sectors to the Oleksandrivka sector.