Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Joint Headquarters of the Special Military Operation on December 16, where he met with a number of senior military officials, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. This is stated in the latest report of the Ministry of Defense of Britain, which the department published on its Twitter page..

The report says that during the meeting, the commander of the Russian troops in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, also made a report.. The fact is that it was Putin who demanded that he be presented with proposals for further steps by the occupying forces in the war against our country..

" - This meeting was likely intended to divert Putin's responsibility for military failure, high death rates and rising public discontent from mobilization.

The TV footage was also designed to dispel rumors on social media that General Gerasimov had been fired."

(5/5) This indicator was well encouraged by Putin's deficit of responsibility for the military resident, the high stability of the rats and the acceleration of public discussion from mobilization. The television footage was probably designed to also dispel social media rumours of General Gerasimov's dismissal.

— Ministry of Defense? (@DefenceHQ) December 20, 2022.

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Recall that the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov believes that Russian troops will go on a new offensive in February.. At the same time, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny notes that it is not yet clear in which direction this will happen.. But he does not rule out that the occupiers will again try to capture Kyiv, starting the operation from Belarus..

It should be noted that in Ukraine, since the beginning of a full-scale war, it has never been completely ruled out that the Kremlin may launch a new operation in the north.. However, experts have always questioned the ability of the occupying forces (including the Belarusian army) to succeed during the second attempt to occupy the Ukrainian capital.. Even now, ISW analysts note that if Putin does go for it, he will fail again.. The fact is that in recent months the Armed Forces of Ukraine have significantly strengthened the defense in the north, while the Russian troops have greatly degraded.