Russian Defense Ministry explains why Putin went to Kherson and other occupied territories of Ukraine
Putin wanted to get out of his bunker and see with his own eyes what was happening in the Russian army
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's unexpected trip to the occupied regions of Ukraine, where he met with generals under the protection of special services and presented them with an icon, was a response to the flood of disinformation the Kremlin was receiving from the frontline.
The trip, which the Kremlin announced on Tuesday, was made because Putin wanted to see with his own eyes what was happening in the army, a source close to the Russian Defense Ministry told The Moscow Times.
"The Defense Ministry has been feeding the country's leadership disinformation about the state of affairs in the army," the source explains. "The system of providing distorted information and happy pictures has been built from the bottom up. Everyone below them knows what to do to keep their superiors happy."
The "conveyor belt of lies" started working even before the invasion. And this negatively affected the assessment of its forces and capabilities, as well as the assessment of the balance of power with Ukraine when deciding to launch the invasion, the source said.
According to the source, Putin wanted to talk to people who do not have direct access to him because they report to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Shoigu himself, as well as Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, were absent from the meetings Putin held with generals at the military headquarters in Kherson region and at the headquarters of the Russian National Guard in Luhansk region.
The visit, which the Kremlin presented almost as a trip to the war zone, was intended to show Russian society and opponents that Putin, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, can personally control the situation on the frontline, and not just give instructions from a bunker.
"Putin himself, obviously, has always been reluctant to do this, but Gromov and Kiriyenko are recommending it to him. They need to show that the Russian president is not inferior to Ukrainian President Zelensky in this regard," the expert explains.
It is not known for certain when the trip actually took place. The Kremlin claims that Putin visited military headquarters on the Tuesday after Easter, which was celebrated on April 16. However, in the initial video clip, Putin, handing an icon to the military, says the phrase: "Easter is coming soon."
A short time after the first video was published, the Kremlin removed it and published a new one, where the phrase about the upcoming Easter is absent, the Agency wrote.
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