MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday (Dec 16) hailed his army’s accelerating advance in Ukraine and praised 2024 as a “landmark” year in the course of Moscow’s military offensive on its Western-backed neighbour.
Addressing top military generals in an end-of-year meeting, the Kremlin leader struck a defiant and optimistic tone, claiming his troops had the upper hand across the entire front line.
He also hit out at what he called a Western “hybrid war” and its attempts to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Moscow.
The comments come with Russia’s army advancing across eastern Ukraine at its fastest pace since the first weeks of the offensive.
Both Moscow and Kyiv are seeking to improve their position on the battlefield before US President-elect Donald Trump comes to power in January.
The Republican has repeatedly said he could strike a ceasefire in hours, without presenting a plan, and speculation about peace talks is mounting.
“STRATEGIC INITIATIVE”
“Russian troops are firmly holding the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact,” Putin said in the televised meeting with army bosses and defence ministry officials.
He said Russia’s army had seized 189 Ukrainian settlements this year and called 2024 a “landmark year in the achievement of the goals of the special military operation”, using Moscow’s official language for its campaign.
Speaking after Putin at the same meeting, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said Russia’s troops had seized a total of almost 4,500 sq km of Ukrainian territory this year and were now gaining around 30 sq km a day.
He said Ukraine controlled less than 1 per cent of the eastern Lugansk region, and around 25 to 30 per cent of the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Russia claimed in 2022 to annex all four, despite not having full control over any of them.
Russia’s army said Monday it had captured another small village in the Donetsk region, as part of its latest advance.
AFP analysis of the Institute for the Study of War data found that in November Russian troops advanced at their fastest pace since March 2022 – the first full month of the offensive.
