Kremlin says Putin visited military headquarters on Kherson axis, in ‘LPR’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the headquarters of the Dnepr force group in the Kherson direction where he listened to reports from the commander of this group, Colonel General Oleg Makarevich, and the commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, according to the Kremlin press service.

Putin asked to be briefed on the situation in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, after which he asked Colonel General Teplinsky to “express his thoughts”.

The Kremlin also said that the president had travelled to the self-proclaimed “LPR” (“Luhansk people’s republic”) where he visited the headquarters of the Vostok National Guard. This is Putin’s first officially reported visit to the Luhansk region. There, he received reports from Colonel General Alexander Lapin and other officers.

“The head of state congratulated the servicemen on the Easter holiday and presented them with copies of religious icons as gifts,” the Kremlin said. It is claimed that “President Putin’s trips to the Kherson region and the Luhansk people’s republic, as well as meetings at the Dnepr and Vostok headquarters were not prepared in advance”.

On December 17, the Kremlin reported that Putin spent the whole day working at the Joint Headquarters of the branches of the armed forces involved in the war in Ukraine. Judging by the photos and videos, the top army command also attended the meetings with the president, namely Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and commander of the joint group of forces in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin.