Ukraine war: Putin visits the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine

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By Catherine Armstrong, BBC News Apr 18, 2023 07:20 GMT

Updated 2 minutes ago

Image source, The Kremlin

photo caption,

Vladimir Putin with Colonel Mikhail Teplinsky (left) and Colonel Oleg Makarevich (right)

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the occupied parts of the Ukrainian region of Kherson.

The Kremlin said he attended a military meeting to hear reports from the commanders.

It is also believed that Putin has visited the Luhansk region. Russia annexed Kherson and Luhansk last year.

It is not known when the trip to Kherson took place, but at one point in the released footage of the trip, Putin referred to the “upcoming” Easter holiday – suggesting that it happened a few days earlier. Orthodox Easter was celebrated last Sunday.

The Kremlin said the trips had not been prepared in advance.

Russian media reported that the president also inquired about the situation in the Zaporozhye region, which Moscow has claimed as part of Russia.

He was quoted as telling the military meeting in Kherson that while he did not want to distract them from their duties, “It is important for me to hear your opinion on how the situation is developing, to listen to you, and to exchange information.”

However, some of the region is still under Russian control.

In a video released by the Kremlin, Putin is seen exiting a helicopter in a field before cutting across the road in front of him as he exits the car and is greeted by a man in military fatigues believed to be the military commander, Colonel Oleg Makarevich.

He was then photographed speaking in the control room, seated between Colonel-General Makarevich and the commander of the Airborne Forces in Russia, Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky.

American military experts and British intelligence reported that Colonel-General Teplinsky had returned to the front line after his dismissal in January.

“Teplinsky is probably one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the ranks,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote on social media on Sunday.

“His recent turbulent career points to intense factional tensions within the Russian General Staff over Russia’s military approach to Ukraine.”

Image source, The Kremlin

photo caption,

Vladimir Putin presented military leaders with what he said was a reproduction of a historical icon

Later in the video, Putin presents what is said to be a copy of an icon he says belongs to “one of the most successful defense ministers of the Russian Empire”.

We see a road sign reading “See you later in the Kherson region”, before the aerial shots show a coastal village. Putin is seen getting out of a helicopter again.

Then he appears in different clothes in a bunker and talks with Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, Chief of Staff of the Russian Ground Forces.

The Kremlin says Putin visited the Vostok headquarters, of the Russian National Guard, in occupied Luhansk.

The Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the video.

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