Putin visits Ukraine's war headquarters

Meetings with his top brass seemed to signal a shift from his largely hands-off public posture to one conveying a more active role in war planning.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin paid a surprise visit to a command post coordinating the Russian war effort in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced Saturday during a 'a rare practical demonstration participation in the execution and planning of the military campaign.

Mr. Putin spent Friday at military headquarters at an undisclosed location, chairing a general assembly with senior Russian brass and holding separate meetings with various commanders, the Kremlin said in a statement. In his opening address, broadcast on Russian state television, Putin said he had come to listen to his commanders' proposals for the "short and medium term movements" of the Russian military.

As Russia's military campaign has suffered a series of painful and embarrassing setbacks, Mr Putin has distanced himself from the blunders, clearly unwilling to associate himself with the defeat. All the while, he maintained a studied calm, insisting against all reason that the war "would go as planned".

For example, Mr. Putin has never publicly commented on the retreat of its army from the city of Kherson - the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russia has captured since the February invasion. He also never made public visits to the front lines or even to the territories captured by Russia. Instead, Mr Putin focused on economic affairs, such as opening a turkey-breeding factory in Siberia in November, trying to show that everything was business as usual in Russia. p>

Friday's meeting demonstrated a shift in that approach, Russian war analysts said. While few doubt that a major military decision could be made in Russia without Mr Putin's approval, the fact that Friday's meeting was made public means that the Kremlin wants to send a clear signal that the Russian leader is in charge and interested in the progress of the war, said Yuri Fyodorov, a Russian military analyst.

"Mr. Putin has demonstrated that he is responsible of the situation at the front,” Fyodorov said in a telephone interview. "This is no coincidence in light of reports that Russia may be preparing to launch an offensive in Ukraine."

ImageGen. Sergei Surovikin, left, the commander of the country's forces in Ukraine, and Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu, center, were among those present at the meeting with Mr Putin.Credit...Pool photo by Gavriil Grigorov

Besides the staging designed to show he is in control, the meeting served several other purposes for Mr Putin, analysts said. It was a rare opportunity for him to appear with his senior commanders Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery V. Gerasimov, who have come under heavy criticism from Russian military bloggers and are frequently the target of rumors of their dismissal. And by mentioning "medium-term" planning, according to analysts, he was able to underline his determination, if necessary, to see the war through to its conclusion.

At the start of the war, Mr. Putin delegated decision-making to various branches of the military. This blurred lines of responsibility, but also undermined coordination between troop formations. In October, as it became clear even to war supporters that Russia's initial push into Ukraine had failed, Mr Putin appointed General Sergei Surovikin as commander of the country's forces. p>