Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a surprise overnight visit to the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don where, according to Kremlin media, he was shown “new models of military equipment.”
Footage from the trip shows he was accompanied by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the commander of military operations in Ukraine, Valery Gerasimov, who were introduced to what looks like a new golf buggy.
How this will assist Russia’s military aims in Ukraine was not made clear.
It’s Putin’s second visit to Rostov-on-Don in under a month. He “visited the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in Rostov-on-Don, after completing his official visit to Kazakhstan” on Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
“The supreme commander in chief was shown new models of military equipment,” the Kremlin said.
“The head of state heard reports on the progress of the special military operation.”
Putin was last in Rostov-on-Don at the end of October where he held talks with military officials on what the Kremlin terms the special military operation in Ukraine, AFP reports.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s trips outside the security of the Kremlin are usually conducted at night under the cover of darkness.
In March he made a nighttime trip to Mariupol, his first visit to territory captured from Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Ukraine’s defense ministry at the time said the timing of the trip “befits a thief.”
Source : Kyiv Post
