The video of Putin's visit to the war zone was filmed in Rostov-on-Don – media
The video of Russian President Vladimir Putin's December 16 visit to the "Joint Headquarters of the Armed Forces Involved in the SMO" was filmed at the Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, writes "Agentstvo".
The publication compared the interiors of the headquarters in the video with Putin to photos of earlier events in that room.
It turned out that in early November, the same room was used to film the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, as he was "inspecting the command post of the Joint Formation of Russian Forces in the course of the SMO" in Ukraine, according to the department's report.
The "Agentstvo" journalists claim that the large round table at the SMD headquarters and the interior of the room where it is located are identical to what can be seen in the video of Putin's visit to the headquarters. According to the website of the Ministry of Defense, this headquarters is in Rostov-on-Don.
The Kremlin announced Putin's visit to the war zone hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise trip to Bakhmut, where fierce fighting has been going on for months.
The head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, the head of the General Staff, Valeriy Gerasimov, and the commander of the Joint Formation of Russian Forces in the war with Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, are in the photos and the video together with Putin. The Kremlin does not disclose where exactly the president met the military.
On December 20, State Duma deputy from the "United Russia" party, Andrei Gurulyov stated on the air of Vladimir Soloviev's "Polny Kontakt" that Putin "has been to the SMO zone."
It is impossible to determine exactly where Putin has been. In most cases, when the Russian authorities speak of the "SMO zone", they are referring to the territory of Ukraine, except the occupied Crimea. Officially, Putin has never visited the war zone.
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