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.
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How this will assist Russia’s military aims in Ukraine was not made clear.
Supposedly this is the footage of supposedly Putin supposedly visiting the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don.#Russia #Putin pic.twitter.com/C2GLG9GWCZ
— Natalka (@NatalkaKyiv) November 10, 2023
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.”
Russia's new golf buggy. PHOTO: Screenshot.
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.
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Ukraine’s defense ministry at the time said the timing of the trip “befits a thief.”
As befits a thief, putin visited Ukrainian Mariupol, under the cover of night.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 19, 2023
First, it is safer.
Also, darkness allows him to highlight what he wants to show, and keeps the city his army completely destroyed and its few surviving inhabitants away from prying eyes.
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