Amid heavy artillery bombardments and air strikes on the ruined city of Bakhmut, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his commanders in two regions of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed.
The Kremlin stated that Vladimir Putin visited a national guard headquarters in eastern Luhansk on Monday and participated in a military command conference in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin received updates on the state of affairs in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas from the commanders of the airborne troops, the Dnieper army group, and several other senior officers, as per a Reuters report.
As a security measure, the Kremlin said neither Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov nor Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accompanied the Russian president as Vladimir Putin visited Ukraine.
On Twitter, Mykhailo Podolyak, a key advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, mocked Vladimir Putin's Ukraine visit, characterizing it as a "'special tour' by the mass murderer of the "occupied" and devastated regions to relish the atrocities committed by his henchmen for one final time.
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Vladimir Putin noted in short comments upon his arrival that he didn't want to divert soldiers from their task and that his tour of the station would be conducted in a "businesslike manner, briefly, but concretely," according to Interfax, a news agency linked with the government of Russia, cited by ABC News.
Vladimir Putin Met With His Commanders as Ukrainian Troops Readies Its Counter-Strike
The media outlet reported that Vladimir Putin expressed the importance of listening to the opinions of his commanders and exchanging information regarding the development of the situation in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Although Putin had previously visited areas under Russian control, his recent trip to Kherson and Luhansk marked his first visit to regions partially under Russian military control.
According to DW, Vladimir Putin's trip happens as Ukrainian forces are ready to launch a new counteroffensive to retake the seized areas.
Russia's head of state traveled to Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov that Russia seized control of in May last month.
The international community denounced Russia's annexation of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia in September of last year as unlawful.
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