Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Kherson and Luhansk regions

First trip to Kherson since the start of the conflict for Vladimir Putin. The Russian president paid a whirlwind visit in the Kherson and Luhansk regions on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter holiday, which was celebrated on Sunday, the Kremlin announced in a statement on Tuesday April 18. It is not known, however, when exactly this visit took place, during which the Russian President congratulated the military and offered them “copies of the icons”, the statement said.

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He met there with the commander of the Russian airborne forces, General Mikhail Teplinsky and other senior military officials, to discuss the situation in the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhya, which Russia claimed to be annexed last September. . “It is important for me to hear your opinion on the situation, to listen to you, to exchange information”said the Russian president, according to a video released by the Kremlin.

A trip to a “crime scene” for kyiv

kyiv sharply denounced this visit by the Russian president, whom it accuses of visiting the scene of his “crimes”. This trip “is a ‘special tour’ of the perpetrator of mass murder in the occupied and ravaged territories to take pleasure in the crimes” committed by Russian forces, Mykhaïlo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said on Twitter.

This is the second visit within a month of Vladimir Putin in the zone occupied by Moscow in Ukraine. The choice of regions of Kherson and Zaporijjia for this trip is not insignificant. The area could become the scene of an upcoming spring offensive by Ukrainian forces, in their quest for territorial recovery.