The head of the Kremlin visited the command postPutin vowed to his generals to achieve war goals
As European countries discussed the US peace initiative, Putin appeared in camouflage uniform before Russian state media. At the command center, the Kremlin leader asked his commanders to achieve their goals in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his adherence to Moscow’s war aims in Ukraine during his visit to the command center. “We have common tasks, our goals. The most important thing is to achieve the goals of the special military operation,” Putin said at the meeting, according to the Kremlin. Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and commanders of Russian Army Groups West and South in Ukraine also took part.
A video released by the Kremlin showing Putin wearing a camouflage uniform with officers in a consultation room does not allow any conclusions about the location. Although America has sent Ukraine another plan to end the war, Putin shows no signs of relenting. He asked the generals to inform him of the advance of the Russian troops.
Putin himself stated that, as far as he knows, 15 Ukrainian battalions are surrounded near the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region. There is no evidence of this claim on current maps of the frontier. The Kremlin leader asked if there was a chance for the Ukrainian army to surrender. Gerasimov answered in the affirmative. However, he claimed Ukrainian soldiers did not dare lay down their weapons to avoid their own fire or drone attacks. However, there are no documented cases of violent actions on the Ukrainian side.
Putin once again denied the legitimacy of Ukraine’s leadership around President Volodymyr Zelensky. A “criminal gang” has been in power illegally in Kiev since the end of the presidential election term in 2024. “These people sit on their golden toilets and hardly think about the fate of their country, the fate of their compatriots,” he said, referring to a major corruption scandal in Ukraine.
Putin ordered a major Russian invasion of the neighboring country more than three and a half years ago. Of the five territories declared to be annexed, Russia only fully controls the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014.
