Russian President Vladimir Putin paid an unannounced visit to the Russian-controlled regions of Kherson and Luhansk in Ukraine, where he met with top field commanders, the Kremlin said on April 18.
In a statement, the Kremlin said Putin had “visited the headquarters of the Dnipro Group of Forces in the Kherson sector and the Vostok National Guard headquarters in the [Moscow-recognized] Luhansk People’s Republic.”
Last September, Russia effectively annexed Kherson and Luhansk—and the neighboring regions of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia—after holding controversial referendums.
Kyiv and its Western allies reject the move as illegitimate and demand that Moscow relinquish all seized territories.
It is still unnown when exactly Putin visited Kherson and Luhansk. But according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, it was on April 17.
“The trip took place yesterday,” Peskov told reporters on April 18, adding that Putin was visiting the “new regions” with increasing frequency.
“He inspects headquarters and receives operational information on the spot about the progress of the special military operation,” Peskov said.
When asked about Putin’s assessment of the military situation, the spokesman declined to provide any details.
“This is the prerogative of the Defense Ministry,” he said.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, derided Putin’s reported visit to this front.
Speaking on Twitter, Podolyak described the unannounced visit as “a special tour [by] the mass murders’ author to the occupied and ruined territories to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time.”
Kyiv and its allies accuse Russian forces of committing war crimes in areas under their control—allegations that Moscow denies.
Last month, Putin paid a visit to Donetsk’s city of Mariupol and the Black Sea region of Crimea, which Moscow similarly annexed in 2014.
Service members of the Russian airborne forces sit in an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane before their departure as they take part in drills at a military airport in the Azov Sea port of Taganrog, Russia, on April 22, 2021. Reuters/Stringer
Putin Meets Airborne Commander
During his visit to Kherson, Putin met with several military commanders, according to the Kremlin.These reportedly included Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky, appointed commander of Russia’s elite airborne corps last year.
Teplinsky previously served in Chechnya in Russia’s northern Caucasus region. He has also served in Transnistria, a Russian-administered enclave of Moldova.
In its daily briefing for April 16, the British Defense Ministry described Teplinsky as “one of the few senior Russian generals widely respected by the rank-and-file.”
Teplinsky recently came in for praise by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked military company that has spearheaded the fighting in Donetsk.
Last month, Prigozhin, known for his high-profile quarrels with Russia’s top brass, described Teplinsky as “competent, uncompromising, and fearless.”
In November, Russian forces withdrew from northern Kherson, including its regional capital, to the southeastern bank of the Dnipro River.
At the time, Kyiv hailed the Russian pullout as a “turning point” in the conflict. Moscow portrayed the move as a “strategic withdrawal” to more defensible positions.
Russian forces are now said to control roughly 70 percent of Kherson.
The region is of vital strategic importance since it links the Ukrainian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula, the recapture of which remains a longstanding goal of Kyiv and its Western supporters.
Ukraine's military servicemen sit in the back of an army truck in the Donetsk region town of Avdiivka, on the eastern Ukraine front line with Russia-backed separatists on Feb. 21, 2022. Aleksey Filippov/AFP via Getty Images
Zelenskyy Visits Troops in Avdiivka
After visiting Kherson, Putin reportedly traveled by helicopter to Luhansk, where he met with commanders at the eastern headquarters of Russia’s National Guard.Luhansk and Donetsk comprise the Russian-speaking Donbas region, which remains the primary focus of Moscow’s invasion now in its second year.
According to Peskov, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov attended the meetings in Kherson and Luhansk via teleconference.
When asked why the two men had not accompanied Putin in person, Peskov said: “It’s hardly expedient for the supreme commander-in-chief, the defense minister, and the chief of General Staff to gather in one place, and thus tempt the enemy.”
Not to be outdone, on April 18, Zelenskyy visited Ukrainian troops in Donetsk’s town of Avdiivka—the scene of fierce fighting—where he was similarly briefed on developments in the field.
According to a statement released by his office, Zelenskyy doled out awards and thanked the troops “for your service, for defending our land, Ukraine, and our families.”
Moscow launched its “special military operation” early last year to protect Russian speakers in the Donbas region and halt the eastward expansion of NATO.
For their part, Kyiv and its Western allies regard the move as an unprovoked war of aggression.
Reuters contributed to this report.
