Vladimir Putin makes 2nd Ukraine visit in attempt to rally Russian troops – National | 24CA News
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited command posts of the Kremlin’s forces preventing in Ukraine, officers stated Tuesday, because the conflict approaches its 14th month and Kyiv readies a potential counteroffensive with Western-supplied weapons.
A video launched by the Kremlin and broadcast by Russian state tv confirmed Putin arriving by helicopter on the command put up of Russian forces in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province after which flying to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard in Luhansk area, which is the east.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated the visits came about Monday. The journey, Putin’s second in two months to Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, represented an obvious try by the Russian chief to rally his troops and to show his authority.
Dressed in a darkish go well with, Putin appeared to chair conferences together with his navy prime brass throughout each stops. The areas of the navy headquarters weren’t disclosed, making it not possible to evaluate how shut they have been to the entrance line. It was not possible to independently confirm the authenticity of the video footage.
Russia’s conflict in Ukraine has turn out to be largely deadlocked amid heavy preventing within the nation’s east, notably across the metropolis of Bakhmut, which for 8½ months has been the stage for the conflict’s longest and bloodiest battle.
Kherson and Luhansk, together with Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia provinces, are 4 areas that Russia illegally annexed in September following native referendums that Ukraine and the West denounced as shams. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak was scathing in his criticism of Putin’s journey, accusing the Russian chief of “degradation” and being the creator of “mass murders” within the conflict.
Both then and now, massive elements of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in addition to some areas of Luhansk province, have remained underneath Ukrainian management. In November, Russian forces ceded territory in Kherson province, together with the area’s namesake capital.
In each areas he visited, Putin congratulated the navy divisions on Orthodox Easter, which was celebrated Sunday, and offered them with icons. Speaking to senior officers on the Kherson headquarters, Putin handed them a duplicate of an Orthodox icon he stated belonged to a well-known Russian normal of the nineteenth century.
The senior officers current on the conferences mirrored which of them have been at the moment in favor with Putin. Col. Gen. Mikhail Teplinsky, the chief of Russia’s airborne troops, was among the many prime generals on the Kherson base.
Teplinsky, a profession officer who rose from lieutenant to turn out to be the chief of the elite navy department, is understood for being in style together with his troops. However, final fall he was briefly relieved from his place amid a spat with the highest navy brass.
He was restored to the job earlier this 12 months, and his attendance on the assembly with Putin indicated that he was again in favor.
A senior officer who greeted Putin within the Luhansk area,, Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin, additionally was relieved of his duties because the commanding officer of Russian troops in Ukraine’s northeast after he was blamed for a hasty Russian pullback from elements of the Kharkiv area within the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in September.
He later was named the chief of workers of the bottom forces, and his assembly with Putin on Tuesday signaled that Lapin had the president’s belief.
Putin’s journeys to the navy headquarters come as Ukraine is making ready for a brand new counteroffensive to reclaim the occupied territories. Last month, he visited the Russian-held Sea of Azov port metropolis of Mariupol, which was captured by Russian troops in May 2022 after two months of fierce preventing.
Ukrainian officers have stated they’re shopping for time by depleting Russian forces in japanese Ukraine whereas making ready for a counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has argued that if Russia wins the Bakhmut battle, it may permit Putin to start constructing worldwide help for a deal that might require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises to finish the conflict.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, informed The Associated Press in an interview in Kyiv that Ukraine’s allies have been serving to the federal government to realize the technical tools essential to launch the assault, together with heavy armored autos and ammunition.
He expressed confidence that Ukraine would reclaim all its occupied territories.
“We will defeat Russia,” he stated. “If you have a strong inner spirit, you will definitely win. And we always had it strong. This is something that always annoyed the Russians.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
