Moscow, Dec 11, (dpa/GNA) â Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, on Thursday announced the capture of the eastern Ukrainian town of Siversk, clearing the way for further advances.
This means that other successful attacks in other directions in the eastern Donbass region are now possible, Putin said at the meeting broadcast on state television and partly via video link.
The Ukrainian side did not initially comment officially on the alleged fall of the town.
The Russian military has said its next objective is to take the town of Sloviansk, which was home to more than 100,000 people before the start of the war in 2022.
Putin praised the “dynamism” on the front line, appearing almost exuberant by his usually reserved standards and heaping praise on the troops like “magnificent, lads,” and “I embrace you tightly.”
The strategic initiative is fully in the hands of the Russian military, he said, adding that the conquest of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is progressing.
Putin did not mention the ongoing negotiations to end the war or US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
He previously described Trump’s proposals as a basis for talks, but clearly stated that Russia could achieve its goals on the battlefield if Kiev rejects Moscow’s terms for a settlement.
For example, Putin is demanding that Ukraine hand over the eastern Donbass region in its entirety in exchange for a ceasefire. In other words, that Kiev withdraws from areas that it still controls. Ukraine has always categorically rejected this.
At Thursday’s meeting, Putin reaffirmed the goal of “expelling Ukrainian formations from our territory and restoring peaceful life on the soil of the Donbass.”
Moscow declared in September 2022 that it had annexed Donbass, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and incorporated it into its constitution as Russian territory, but still does not control the entire area.
GNA