KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday visited command posts of the Kremlin's forces fighting in Ukraine in an apparent effort to rally his troops as the war approaches its 14th month and Kyiv readies a possible counteroffensive with Western-supplied weapons.
A video released by the Kremlin and broadcast by Russian state television showed Putin arriving by helicopter at the command post for Russian forces in the southern Kherson region and afterward flying to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard of the eastern Luhansk region
Dressed in a dark suit, and in an apparent demonstration of authority, Putin appeared to chair the meetings with his military top brass. It was his second trip in two months to the Russian-occupied territories in the neighboring country.
The locations of the military headquarters in the Kherson and Luhansk regions weren't disclosed, so it wasn't possible to assess how close they are to the front line.
Russia's war in Ukraine has turned into a stalemate amid heavy fighting in the country's east, particularly around the town of Bakhmut, which for 8½ months has been the stage for the war's longest and bloodiest fight.
In both locations, Putin congratulated the military on Orthodox Easter, which was celebrated Sunday and presented them with icons.
Russia annexed the Kherson and Luhansk regions along with the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in September in a…
