The Russian armed forces are preparing to occupy the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is the administrative center of the annexed Zaporizhzhia region by Russia, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, according to LETA citing DPA.
According to representatives of the Russian army at a meeting with Putin, Russian troops are already 15 kilometers south of the city's border.
Putin stated that Zaporizhzhia is planned to be jointly occupied by the military formations "Dnieper" and "East".
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia occupied a significant part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south. Although in the fall of 2022 Russia illegally annexed these four regions, it does not fully control any of them.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov described the situation on the battlefield as "very dynamic," noting that the Russian army is currently achieving more than planned.
Chief of the General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov informed Putin that Russian troops are now targeting the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region.
He added that operations for the complete capture of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions are proceeding as planned, emphasizing that Russian forces are advancing deeper into the defensive positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
These statements could not be verified by independent sources. The Ukrainian army recently called Putin's claims about the achievements of Russian troops fabricated.
