Putin's Surprise Visit to Military Headquarters in Occupied Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited troops at a military base in the southern Kherson region, partly held by Russia, and the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where Russian forces occupy parts of both. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited soldiers at a hospital in the beleaguered town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, where he awarded medals to injured troops. The war in Ukraine is at a critical stage as Kyiv prepares to launch a spring offensive, and both sides are grappling with physical exhaustion and depleted ammunition stocks in a grinding war of attrition that the US and Western allies do not expect will end this year.