Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the occupied territories of Kherson region of Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin, he attended a military meeting to hear reports from commanders.
Mr Putin is also believed to have visited the Luhansk region. Russia annexed Kherson and Luhansk last year.
Such visits by the Russian leader are rare, although he did make a surprise visit to the city of Mariupol in March.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, tweeted that Mr Putin was visiting “occupied and devastated areas” of Ukraine for the last time to enjoy the crimes of his minions.
“Putin’s demotion is impressive,” he said.
Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the visit took place on April 17. However, footage initially posted on the Kremlin’s website contradicts that statement.
In the clip, Mr Putin can be heard clearly saying that the Easter holiday is “coming”. Orthodox Easter in Russia is celebrated on April 16, a day earlier than the date claimed by Mr. Peskov.
The video on the Kremlin’s website has since been edited, with Mr Putin’s words “coming” removed.
The president is also said to have inquired about the situation in the Zaporizhzhia region, which Moscow claims as part of Russia.
Addressing a military meeting in Kherson, he said that he did not want to distract from his duties, “It is important for me to hear your opinion on how the situation is developing, to listen to you, to get information.” to exchange”.
Russian troops withdrew from the city of Kherson late last year, the only regional capital lost since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
However, some areas are under the control of Russia.
In a video released by the Kremlin, Mr Putin is seen exiting a helicopter in a field, before getting out of a car and being greeted by a man in a military uniform, who is believed to be military commander Colonel General Oleg Makarevich.
He is then filmed speaking in a control room, sitting between Colonel General Makryevich and the head of the Russian Air Force, Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky.
American military experts and British intelligence reported that Colonel General Teplinski returned to the front line after being allegedly removed in January.
“Tiplinsky is possibly one of the few senior Russian generals who is widely respected,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote on social media on Sunday.
“His recent tumultuous career indicates deep tensions between factions within the Russian General Staff over Russia’s military approach to Ukraine.”
Later in the video, Mr Putin presents what is said to be a replica of an icon which he says belonged to “the most decorated defense minister of the Russian army in the 19th century”.
We see a road sign in front of a hotel that says “See you later in the Kherson region” which JEE News has confirmed is in the Kherson region. After that, aerial firing was carried out on a coastal village in the same area.
However, none of the shots filming the Russian president have been independently verified.
Afterwards, Mr Putin is again shown exiting the helicopter and then being escorted into the bunker in different clothes, talking to Colonel General Alexander Lapin, the chief of staff of Russia’s ground forces.
The Kremlin says Mr Putin visited the Vostok headquarters of Russia’s National Guard in occupied Luhansk.
It also said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov did not accompany the president on the trip because it was a “great risk” for Russia’s top commanders to be in a place so close to the front lines.
