Putin stages surprise visit to troops in occupied Ukraine

BLOOMBERG

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited troops in two occupied regions of Ukraine, according to video by the Kremlin, marking the second time in a month he’s toured territory seized in the more than year-old invasion.
Putin was shown meeting officers of the Vostok National Guard in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk and at the headquarters of the Dnepr grouping of troops in the southern Kherson region, where he heard reports on military developments.
“It’s important for me to hear your opinion about the situation,” he told officers in the video.
Putin’s appearance in occupied Ukraine came as Ukrainian forces prepare to mount a counter-offensive that the government in Kyiv hopes will provide a decisive breakthrough, despite doubts among its US and European allies that this is achievable this year. Russia has shelved plans for an offensive of its own after failing to gain much ground.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the visits to the Luhansk and Kherson regions took place on Monday, state-run Tass news service reported.
In the version of the clip first released by the Kremlin, Putin can be heard saying “Easter is coming up,” suggesting that the visit took place before the Orthodox holiday. The audio was later changed to remove the future tense, according to Agentstvo, an independent news site.
Peskov explained Putin’s phrasing saying that “our Easter lasts 40 days,” Tass said.
In Kherson, Putin was shown wearing a shirt and tie, while in Luhansk he had on a turtleneck sweater. The Kremlin video showed his motorcade passing a sign for Henichesk, a port city on the Azov Sea in the Kherson region. The Russian president made a night-time visit to
occupied Mariupol in March.
In Luhansk as he stepped off a helicopter, the Russian leader was met by Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin. The military commander was promoted to a top post in January despite his earlier firing over his handling of the war and harsh criticism from hawkish figures including Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The president presented a copy of an icon to the Dnepr forces that he said had belonged to “one of the most successful defense ministers of the Russian Empire.”
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has regularly met with his troops on the front lines, this is only Putin’s second public visit to the occupied regions since he ordered the February 2022 invasion.  Ukraine’s military pushed Russian troops out of Kherson city in November, the only regional capital that Moscow occupied, as part of a counter-offensive by Kyiv’s forces last year.