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| Vladimir Putin with Col Gen Mikhail Teplinsky (left) and Col Gen Oleg Makarevich (right) |
Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, has visited Kherson, a territory of occupied Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin, he went to a military assembly to hear briefings from commanders.
Additionally, Mr. Putin is rumoured to have visited the Luhansk region. Kherson and Luhansk were taken by Russia last year.
The Russian president seldom makes such travels, but in March he made an unexpected journey to Mariupol.
According to a tweet from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, Vladimir Putin was touring Ukraine's "occupied and ruined territories" "to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time."
"Putin's degradation is impressive," he declared.
According to Dmitry Peskov, a representative for Mr. Putin, the visit took place on April 17. This assertion is refuted by a video that was previously uploaded on the Kremlin website.
Mr. Putin may be heard in the video indicating that Easter is "coming up" in audible detail. The day before Mr. Peskov's alleged date, on April 16, Russia observed Orthodox Easter.
The phrase "coming up" has been deleted from the version of the video that was first posted on the Kremlin website.
According to reports, the president also inquired about the situation in the Zaporizhzhia region, which Moscow has also annexed.
While he didn't want to interfere with their work, he is reported as saying to the military gathering in Kherson that "it is important for me to hear your opinion on how the situation is developing, to listen to you, and to exchange information."
Late last year, Russian troops withdrew from Kherson, surrendering the only provincial capital they had managed to seize since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
However, some of the region is still governed by Russia.
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In a video made public by the Kremlin, Mr. Putin can be seen exiting a helicopter in a field before a man in uniform, possibly military commander Col. Gen. Oleg Makarevich, meets him as he exits a car.
Then, while seated between Col. Gen. Makarevich and Col. Gen. Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia's airborne forces, he is filmed on camera conversing in a control room.
After purportedly being removed from the front line in January, Col. Gen. Teplinsky is back there, according to American military analysts and British intelligence.
The UK Ministry of Defence stated on social media on Sunday that Teplinsky is perhaps one of the few senior Russian generals who enjoy widespread esteem among the troops.
His tumultuous professional history in recent years "suggests severe divisions within the Russian General Staff regarding Russia's military strategy in Ukraine."
In a later segment of the video, Mr. Putin reportedly displays a copy of an icon that he claims belonged to "one of the most decorated defence ministers of the Russian Army in the 19th century."
A hotel that has been confirmed by the BBC to be in the Kherson region is near a road sign that reads, "See you later in the Kherson region." Then aerial photographs are taken over a seaside community in the same region.
No footage of the Russian president has, however, been independently authenticated.
Later, Mr. Putin is shown exiting a helicopter once more. He is then seen being led into a bunker and chatting with Col. Gen. Alexander Lapin, the commander of Russia's ground forces, while dressed differently.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin went to the Vostok headquarters in occupied Luhansk, which is home to the Russian National Guard.
It has also been stated that the chief of the general staff and the minister of defence of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, declined to travel with the president since it posed a "big risk" for them to be together so close to the front lines.
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