Vladimir Putin has visited military command posts in occupied regions of Ukraine, a sign the Russian president retains his territorial ambitions more than a year since he launched his invasion of the country.
Putin visited troops in the Kherson and Luhansk regions and heard reports from field commanders as fierce fighting raged in the north-eastern city of Bakhmut, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
State TV footage did not immediately make clear the president’s exact locations during the trip, which the Kremlin said Putin made spontaneously on Monday. The visit would be Putin’s closest to the frontline areas, which Russia is now claiming as its own territory, since the war began.