Putin tells army to press on with campaign to take southern Ukrainian region
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Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the Zaporizhzhia region as part of Russia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin told his army on Dec 29 to press on with a campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine after a Russian commander said Moscow’s forces were 15km from its biggest city.
Mr Putin made the comments a day after speaking to US President Donald Trump about the prospects for a peace deal in Ukraine and was speaking at a televised Kremlin meeting with top military commanders and Mr Andrei Belousov, the defence minister.
Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia’s Dnieper military grouping, told Mr Putin that Russian forces were getting closer to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which had a pre-war population of over 700,000 people.
The wider Zaporizhzhia region, which Moscow controls around 75 per cent of, is one of four Ukrainian provinces that Mr Putin claimed as part of Russia in 2022, a move denounced by Kyiv and many Western countries as an illegal land grab.
“Frontline (Russian) units are located about 15km from the southern outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia,” Col-Gen Teplinsky told Mr Putin.
Mr Putin replied: “We understand and are aware that the enemy directly opposite you has been preparing its defence for many years, and we know how difficult the situation is there. But nevertheless, you are managing to accomplish the tasks facing the grouping.”
He told Col-Gen Teplinsky that he wanted more of the same.
“In the near future, it is necessary to continue the offensive, together with the East grouping to liberate Zaporizhzhia,” said Mr Putin.
General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s General Staff, earlier told Mr Putin that Moscow’s forces were advancing along nearly the entire front line, while Kyiv’s forces were focused on defence and attempting to counterattack.
Gen Gerasimov reported that Russian forces in 2025 captured 6,640 sq km of territory in Ukraine, including 334 villages, and that advances notched up in December were the fastest n 2025. REUTERS
