Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the country’s military on Monday for their service in Ukraine and assured that the “liberation” of Donbas, as well as the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, is advancing according to the plan of the military operation in that country.
“The liberation of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson is being carried out in stages, in accordance with the plan of the special military operation,” Putin said at a meeting with the military leadership, the second in two days and in which he congratulated himself on the pace of the army’s offensive.
The Kremlin chief stated that after the capture of the cities of Pokrovsk and Mirnograd, Russian forces are eliminating enemy troops that were surrounded in that area and, simultaneously, “are developing an offensive towards the state borders”, referring to the border of the annexed Donetsk region with Ukrainian territory.
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In this sense, he highlighted that the prospects for the conquest of the entire Donbas territory are good.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, noted that Kyiv is not carrying out offensive actions in any of the sectors of the front.
“They have focused their efforts on strengthening their defenses and are trying to stop our advance through counterattacks in specific areas and the massive use of drones,” Gerassimov detailed to Putin.
The Russian general assured that the army is also advancing in Zaporizhzhia, where its main objective is the regional capital of the same name.
“The troops of the Dnieper group are advancing towards the city of Zaporizhzhia and have liberated the town of Lukianivske,” said Gerasimov.
In addition, street fighting continues in the city of Orikhiv, an hour away from the city of Zaporizhzhia, he said.
“The tasks of liberating the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, will continue as planned,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Dnieper group, Mikhail Teplinsky, stated that Russian troops are now about 15 kilometers from the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia.
Putin’s meeting with senior military officials takes place on the eve of his second phone call with US President Donald Trump, which will occur “very soon”, as confirmed this morning by the Kremlin.
Trump met on Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida, after which both pointed to progress towards a peace agreement, although without closing any pact and recognizing that “thorny issues” remain to be resolved.
