MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited military headquarters in Russian-controlled Ukraine, where he discussed the battle with a general from Russia's airborne soldiers who has apparently taken on a powerful new role in the invasion, according to the Kremlin.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, has unleashed the bloodiest European battle since World War II.
Moscow claims to have seized four Ukrainian areas, yet its soldiers are engaged in a grinding artillery fight in the eastern Donbas, with significant losses on both sides, and have been forced to withdraw in southern Kherson, where Putin visited.
Putin, 70, was seen on Russian state television descending from a military helicopter in Russian-controlled Ukraine and greeting top military officers. It was not mentioned when the visit occurred.
According to the Kremlin, Putin attended a military command conference in the Kherson area. He heard briefings on the situation in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas, both of which Moscow has declared part of Russia, from commanders of the airborne troops and the "Dnieper" army group, as well as other senior officers.
Russian soldiers withdrew from Kherson in November and have been fortifying their positions on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River in preparation for a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky, Russia's airborne troops commander, sat to Putin's right, while Colonel-General Oleg Makarevich sat to Putin's left.
Teplinsky was assigned a key role in the fight, according to British military intelligence on Sunday.
“Teplinsky, commander of Russia’s corps of airborne troops, the VDV, has highly likely returned to a major role in Ukraine,” British military intelligence said. “Teplinsky is likely one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file.”
Putin also paid a visit to the national guard headquarters in Ukraine's Luhansk area in the eastern Donbas, which Moscow claims to have annexed together with the neighboring Donetsk province. Putin was filmed handing a replica of a symbol to troops.
