The Russian army retreated repeatedly on the battlefield, and Putin had no choice but to ask the commanders in the field to make brilliant moves
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| Russian president Putin |
WASHINGTON —
The Kremlin said on Saturday (December 17) that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian military command that directs the Ukraine war and held a meeting with military commanders to hear their views on how the Ukraine war should be conducted.
Russia has invaded Ukraine for ten months, but the Russian offensive has suffered major setbacks in the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Kharkov, the second largest city in Ukraine, and Kherson, an important city in southern Ukraine, and was forced to abandon it. A retreat from three places. Putin was also forced to call up reserve officers and soldiers to cover the heavy losses suffered at the front. However, the performance of the Russian army on the battlefield has been criticized and criticized by military experts from Russia and its allies.
In October this year, Putin replaced the commander who lost the battle in Ukraine, and appointed General Sergei Surovkin, the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, as the new commander-in-chief of Ukraine's "special military operations". However, after Surovkin took office, the Russian army had almost no offensive in ground combat operations on the Ukrainian battlefield and was basically on the defensive. However, the Russian army has carried out large-scale missile and artillery attacks on the civilian infrastructure of many Ukrainian cities in an attempt to cut off power and water in these cities when the cold winter weather is approaching, making them unable to eat and drink water.
According to a video released by the Kremlin, Putin presides over a meeting with more than a dozen military generals at a round table next to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who has been criticized by Russia's hawkish commentators. Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the Russian Army General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
In another video released by the Kremlin, Putin sits at another conference table of the Russian Joint Special Operations Command, asking the participating military commanders for their opinions on military operations in the Ukrainian battlefield.
"We will listen to the opinions of the commanders of each operational direction, and I want to hear your suggestions for our current and medium-term actions," Putin told Russian commanders.
Photos of Surovkin attending the meeting were also posted on the official Kremlin website.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Interfax news agency that Putin spent a full day at the Russian Army's Joint Special Operations Command.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Russia has enough missiles to continue a more serious large-scale air strike against Ukraine.
A total of 76 missiles of various types were used by the Russian military in Friday's airstrike, Ukrainian officials said, and Ukrainian engineers have been busy with repairs in the wake of the Russian airstrike in order to restore power supply as soon as possible.
Putin also spoke on the phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, the Kremlin said, in which they discussed the war in Ukraine and bilateral relations between Russia and India.
"The leaders discussed in detail the prospects for concrete cooperation in mutual investment, energy, agriculture, transport, and logistics," a Kremlin statement said.
The statement said that Putin and Modi "expressed satisfaction" with the high level of cooperation between the two parties based on the special strategic partnership.
"At the request of Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin made a principled assessment of the state of Russian operations in the direction of Ukraine," the statement said.
