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What Putin's rare trip to occupied Ukraine signalled
Summary
A retrospective on 19 April 2023 and the events of the preceding two days: a visit to occupied territory, a jet transfer and a combat death.
What did the events of 17 and 18 April 2023 show as the war entered another phase? Looking back from 19 April 2023, three developments stand out: a rare presidential visit to occupied territory, a transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine, and the death in combat of a former lawmaker.
A visit to the occupied south and east
On 18 April 2023, Russian president Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Russian-occupied parts of Kherson and Luhansk oblasts. He met military commanders in charge of operations there.
The trip concerned areas Russia had claimed. On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of areas in and around four Ukrainian oblasts: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. Most of Luhansk Oblast and part of Donetsk Oblast had been held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, while Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were invaded in 2022. The boundaries of the claimed areas were never defined, with Russian officials saying they would be set later. None of the four oblasts was fully under Russian control when the declaration was made, nor afterwards.
Jets from Slovakia
On 17 April 2023, according to the Slovak Defence Ministry, Slovakia transferred 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The transfer was part of the wider flow of military aid to Ukraine during the war.
A personal loss
On 18 April 2023, Oleh Barna, a former People's Deputy of Ukraine, was killed in combat.
Taken together
The two days brought a Russian leader meeting commanders in occupied territory, a European state delivering combat aircraft to Ukraine, and a reminder that the fighting drew in people from public life. Each was a separate development, and together they marked the state of the war on 19 April 2023.
