Putin visits two regions in Ukraine, Russia presses assault on Bakhmut

Russian President Vladimir Putin met his commanders in two regions of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have seized, while Russian forces increased artillery bombardments and air strikes on Bakhmut, a devastated eastern Ukrainian city.

The Kremlin claimed Putin visited a national guard headquarters in eastern Luhansk and a military command meeting in southern Kherson on Monday.

Putin was briefed on the situation in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia by airborne troops and Dnieper army group commanders and other senior officers.

The Kremlin said Putin traveled without Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu or Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov for security reasons.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide, called Putin’s trip a “‘special tour’ of the mass murders author in the occupied and ruined territories to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time” on Twitter.

Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of war crimes in occupied Zaporizhzhia , which Moscow denies.

Putin grabbed Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk last September after sham referendums in Ukraine. Russian soldiers partially control four regions.

In preparation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Russian troops withdrew from Kherson, the provincial capital, last November.

Since Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine 14 months ago, many Western leaders have visited Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but Putin has rarely visited Russian-controlled areas.

He visited Crimea and Mariupol in Donetsk last month.

The Russian winter attack failed, and its troops have been mired in east and south conflicts that have cost both sides.

Heavy artillery
Russian assertions that Bakhmut, a mining city in Donetsk region, has fallen have been refuted by Ukrainian forces for months.

“Currently, the enemy is increasing the activity of heavy artillery and the number of air strikes, turning the city into ruins,” Ukraine’s ground forces commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated on Tuesday.

Russia may be able to take Kramatorsk and Sloviansk after capturing Bakhmut.

This month, the Wagner mercenary group’s leader declared its forces controlled almost 80% of Bakhmut. Ukraine’s military denies this.

Russia claims its “special military operation” in Ukraine, began on Feb. 24, last year, was vital to defend itself against a hostile West.

Ukraine and its Western allies claim Russia is waging an unjustified war to seize territory.

On Tuesday, Group of Seven foreign ministers in Japan denounced a Russian plan to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a Moscow ally bordering Ukraine.

Russia had never stated it would place nuclear weapons on foreign soil since the Cold War.

G7 foreign ministers said in a declaration after a three-day summit in Japan: “Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and its threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are unacceptable.”

“Any use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences,” they stated.

Over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the G7 nations—the US, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Canada—have implemented economic penalties.

The Ukraine war has killed tens of thousands, leveled cities, displaced millions, and upended the global security system, forcing Russia to develop connections with non-Western actors like China.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Defence Minister Shoigu told his Chinese colleague Li Shangu in Moscow that their countries’ military cooperation was a “stabilising” force in the globe and reduced violence.

According to TASS, Li’s trip was meant to demonstrate China’s commitment to strategic cooperation with Russia.

Beijing hasn’t criticized Putin’s Ukraine invasion.

On Tuesday, the Kremlin lauded Brazil’s Ukraine mediation. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was criticized by the U.S. for saying that arming Ukraine was “encouraging” conflict.

In reaction to Russian planes gathering information near Japan, the Japanese defense ministry scrambled a jet fighter. Russia’s Far East strategic bombers patrolled the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea earlier.