Airborne and “Dnieper” army group leaders informed the Russian president on Zaporizhia.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin has visited occupied regions of Ukraine that Russia unlawfully annexed last year.
The Russian president attended a military command meeting in the region of Kherson and then visited the Luhansk national guard.
It is unclear when the visits occurred.
In the Kherson region, he was instructed on the situation in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhia regions by commanders of the airborne forces and the “Dnieper” army group, as well as by other senior officers.
In anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Russian forces withdrew from Kherson, the regional capital, in November and have since fortified their positions on the opposite bank of the Dnieper.
Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine 14 months ago, numerous Western leaders have traveled to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but President Putin has rarely visited regions of Ukraine under Russian control.
He visited Crimea and Mariupol last month, which Russia is rebuilding after levelling much of the city.
Putin’s visit comes amid Russia’s failed New Year’s blitz. While Ukrainian forces mount a determined defense of Bakhmut.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s ground forces commander said Russian forces are using more heavy artillery and aircraft in the city.
In the meantime, anticipation has increased advance of Ukraine’s anticipated spring counteroffensive.
Kyiv’s armed forces, bolstered by dozens of Western-made tanks promised over the winter, are anticipated to attempt to replicate last year’s massively successful offensives in Kharkiv and Kherson, which resulted in the liberation of vast swaths of territory.
