He portrayed himself as a military leader: ISW explained why Putin went to TOT
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, during his visit to the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Luhansk regions, portrayed himself as a military leader against the background of the upcoming counteroffensive of the Armed Forces. Thus, analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) identified one of the goals of the Russian President’s trip to the TOT.
– President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the front line in Avdiivka on April 18, so it is possible that the Kremlin deliberately released footage of Putin’s visit in order to overshadow Zelenskyi’s visit in the information space, – ISW speculates.
Also, in their opinion, Putin’s visit was aimed at “publicly identifying potential scapegoats on the eve of the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces”, since it is quite likely that the Kremlin is preparing the Russian information space either for military failures or for repelling the threat of a Ukrainian offensive.
In particular, as noted in the review, the dictator’s revealing meetings with the leaders of the army may indicate the preparation of another change in the military command and even in the Kremlin’s inner circle.
On April 18, the Kremlin reported that the day before, Vladimir Putin had visited the headquarters of the occupying forces in the Kherson region and Luhansk region.
