Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin says he visited Bakhmut and that ‘it can be restored’

Source: Meduza

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who oversees government construction projects, said Friday that he visited Bakhmut, the Ukrainian city that Russian forces have been trying for months to capture fully.

Referring to the city by its pre-2016 name, Artemovsk, Khusnullin wrote on Telegram:

The city is damaged, but it can be restored. We’ve done it before. As soon as the operational situation allows, we’ll start going in there and working on it one step at a time.

Khusnullin cited the city’s House of Culture as an example, captioning a photo of the building: “There’s damage, but it can be restored!”

Khusnullin didn’t say when he visited the city, which is still partially under Ukrainian control as of late April.