Rare visit to the war zone
Shoigu can be seen at the front in Donetsk
October 25, 2023, 9:36 a.m
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In contrast to top Ukrainian politicians, Russian officials are rarely seen in the war zone. Now the defense minister is said to have made one of his rare visits to the front. It cannot be verified whether this is really true.
According to the military, Moscow’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid one of his rare front-line visits to Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Shoigu took part in a staff meeting in the “zone of special military operations,” the ministry said on Telegram. Among other things, he received a report from the commander of Army Group East, Lieutenant General Andrei Kuzmenko, about the creation of specialized drone units.
The Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the ministry, that Shoigu was in southern Donetsk. The meeting with the military was also about preparing for winter. Shoigu pointed out to the command the timely and sufficient provision of new winter uniforms for the entire combat group personnel and urged the creation of an additional operational reserve of winter uniforms and insulated shoes.
The statement from the Ministry of Defense is accompanied by a video that shows Shoigu in a helicopter and later in a staff bunker. It is not possible to determine whether the facility is actually located on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. It is also not clear when exactly Shoigu was there.
In the war of aggression against Ukraine ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, which has now lasted more than 20 months, representatives of the Russian leadership have only very rarely ventured to the front – in contrast to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who regularly visits the front. Shoigu’s last visit to the combat zones was in August. At that time he had inspected a command post and was shown a Swedish infantry fighting vehicle that the Russian forces had taken from the Ukrainian army during battles.