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What Putin's rare trip to occupied Ukraine signalled
Summary
A look back at the Russian president's visit to occupied Kherson and Luhansk oblasts, reported on 18 April 2023, and a notable Ukrainian death in combat.
What did it mean when the Russian president travelled to occupied parts of Ukraine? On 19 April 2023, the question was still being weighed after reports from the previous day that Vladimir Putin had made a rare visit to Russian-occupied Kherson and Luhansk oblasts, where he met military commanders in charge of operations.
The visit
As reported on 18 April 2023, the trip took in two of the four oblasts that Russia had claimed. The reports described it as rare and said Putin met the commanders directly responsible for military operations.
The claim behind the trip
On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared the annexation of areas in and around Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Most of Luhansk Oblast and part of Donetsk Oblast had been held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, while Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were invaded in 2022. The boundaries of the annexed areas were never defined; Russian officials said they would be set later. None of the four oblasts was fully under Russian control when the declaration was made, and none has been since.
Against that background, a visit to two of these oblasts and a meeting with commanders fits a pattern of Moscow presenting the territories as its own. The reports themselves, however, stated only the visit and the meetings.
A loss on the Ukrainian side
The same day's reports carried another war item: Oleh Barna, a former People's Deputy of Ukraine, was killed in combat.
Together, the two reports show the war's reach on 18 April 2023: a Russian leader appearing in occupied territory, and a former Ukrainian lawmaker among those killed at the front.
