(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit overnight from Thursday to Friday to the headquarters of the Russian army for the operation in Ukraine, in Rostov-on-Don, the Kremlin announced.
This is the Russian head of state’s second trip to Rostov in less than a month.
Mr. Putin “visited the headquarters of the Russian armed forces in Rostov-on-Don, after completing his official visit to Kazakhstan” where he spent the entire day on Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
During this trip, the Russian president was accompanied by his Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of staff and commander of military operations in Ukraine, Valéri Gerassimov, according to the same source.
Mr. Putin was presented with new military equipment and heard reports on the progress of the military operation in Ukraine, the statement added.
Vladimir Putin had already visited Rostov-on-Don at the end of October to speak with military officials about the Russian offensive.
Close to Ukraine, Rostov-on-Don has become an operational center for Russian forces for the offensive in this former Soviet republic neighboring Russia.
Mr. Putin had already visited the military headquarters in this city in August and March.
The city was also the scene of the spectacular mutiny of Wagner’s mercenaries in June, who briefly seized the army headquarters before putting a stop to their rebellion.
The Russians persist in trying to surround Avdiïvka
The Russian army, which has been attacking Avdiïvka, in eastern Ukraine for a month, is still trying to surround it and seize a strategic factory, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian army announced on Friday. , adding that two civilians had been killed the day before.
“Not only are they fighting for the factory, they are not giving up on surrounding Avdiïvka” cited on the front since 2014, declared Oleksandre Chtoupoune on Ukrainian television.
“The coking plant is important for” Russian soldiers, he added, specifying that it remained under Ukrainian control for the time being.
But the attacks continue, and “two civilians, a man and a woman, died last night due to a strike on a residential building,” he said.
Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday they expected a third Russian assault on Avdiivka since October 10. According to Kyiv, Russia is suffering very heavy losses but is not giving up.
For nine years, Ukrainian forces have been entrenched there behind solid fortifications. They have had to give up a little ground over the past month, but the defenses seem to be holding up so far.
In the Kherson region where fighting is also raging, a man was killed by Russian artillery fire in Kindiïka, said Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Another attack left one dead and five injured in Novoraissk, a village in the same area, he later added.