Russia's state news agency said the visit was his first since the invasion of Ukraine. Putin is expected to show off his dominance by receiving briefings on the situation at the military operations command in the areas he controls.
President Zelensky encouraged the soldiers fighting on the front lines, saying, "All you want is victory" The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announces that Russian troops are launching attacks around Avdiivka every day. The Russian President's Office announced on the 18th that President Putin visited a series of areas controlled by Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast and eastern Luhansk Oblast.