The Kremlin press service announced on April 18 the trip of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Ukrainian territories controlled by the Russian army – to the Kherson and Lugansk regions. Putin reportedly visited the headquarters of the Dnepr group of troops in the direction of Kherson and the headquarters of the National Guard Vostok in the Lugansk region.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said Putin visited Ukraine on April 17, but there is no independent confirmation that the trip took place.
The Kremlin report claims that the president’s trips “were not prepared in advance”.
The video footage shows daylight hours, Putin gets out of the Mi-8 helicopter, after which the motorcade enters the city of Genichesk, which has become the center of the part of the Kherson region controlled by the Russian army.
At the headquarters of the Dnepr group of troops, the president heard reports from the commander of the airborne forces (VDV), Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, the commander of the Dnepr group of forces, Colonel General Oleg Makarevich and other military leaders.
The day before, US military experts and British intelligence reported that Teplinskiy had returned to the front after an alleged suspension in January.
Addressing Teplinsky, Putin stressed that it is important for him to hear the opinion of the commander of the Airborne Forces on the development of the situation, to exchange information. The President asked to report on the situation in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions and called on Colonel General Teplinsky to “express his point of view”.
At the National Guard headquarters in Vostok in the Luhansk region, Vladimir Putin received reports from Colonel-General Alexander Lapin and other senior officers about the situation in this region.
The press service also reported that Putin congratulated the military on Easter and presented them with copies of the icons.
Handing over the icon, Putin said, “Now Easter will be here, won’t it?” According to the Agency, these words of Putin allow us to conclude that the meeting took place until April 16, when Easter was celebrated in Russia, and the president attended the Easter service in the Cathedral of Christ Savior in Moscow. In a video posted later on the Kremlin’s website, the word “will” was deleted. Peskov said the sentence looks like this because “Easter is celebrated for 40 days”.
In March 2023, for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , Vladimir Putin came to the heavily destroyed Mariupol, captured by Russia last May.
Then the Kremlin press service reported that the president arrived in the city by helicopter, and then driving a car drove around several areas of the city. The released footage showed Putin driving around the city at night and talking to people. Ukrainian media claimed they were pro-Russian activists.
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