Moscow: President Vladimir Putin visited two frontline regions in Ukraine on Tuesday, according to the Kremlin, which drew a sharp rebuke from Kyiv, which claimed he was there to see "the crimes of his minions."

When Putin travelled to the eastern region of Lugansk and the southern region of Kherson, which he claimed to have partially annexed last September, the Kremlin remained mum.

The largest conflict in Europe since World War II began in February 2022 when the leader of the Kremlin dispatched troops to Ukraine. According to Ukrainian forces, they are getting ready for a springtime counteroffensive.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed Putin's trip as "a'special tour' of the mass murders author... to enjoy the crimes of his minions for the last time."

Following the Tuesday announcement of Putin's visit, Ukrainian officials claimed that six people had been hurt when Russian forces shelled Kherson's central market area.

Russia was pushed back in the northern and southern regions of Ukraine last year, and Moscow's forces have only made slight progress in the east. The battle, which has grown to be the longest and bloodiest of the conflict, is now largely centred on the eastern town of Bakhmut.

Putin met with Russian military leaders while in Ukraine, according to the Kremlin, and they spoke about the state of affairs in the pro-Western nation on various fronts.

Putin was seen getting out of a helicopter as he arrived at the Dnieper army group's headquarters in the Kherson region, according to video footage released by the Kremlin. Additionally, he went to the national guard's headquarters in eastern Ukraine's Lugansk.

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Putin said in the video, flanked by senior military leaders, "It's important for me to hear your opinion on the situation, to listen to you, and to exchange information."

According to the Kremlin, the Russian president gave the soldiers copies of old icons and wished them a happy Easter, which Orthodox Christians celebrated last Sunday.

He visited Kherson and Lugansk after the Kremlin claimed in March that he had unexpectedly travelled to Mariupol, a port city that Moscow had conquered after a protracted siege last spring.

On Tuesday, British military intelligence reported that "heavy fighting" was still going on along the front line in Donbas.

However, it added that there was a "realistic possibility" that Russia had scaled back its troop strength and offensive activity in the area of Donetsk city, most likely to focus its attention on the Bakhmut sector.

In Bakhmut, the statement claimed that both the regular Russian army and the Wagner mercenary group were still making "creeping advances."
In the town centre, "the front line largely follows the main railway line," the statement read.

According to the statement, Ukraine wants "to free-up an offensive force while Russia likely aspires to regenerate an operational reserve."

Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, claimed that Russian forces were intensifying their use of heavy artillery and airstrikes in order to achieve their objective of seizing control of Bakhmut "at any cost."

The head of military intelligence for Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, asserted that Russia currently lacked the capability to launch a strategic offensive operation.

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Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president's office, claimed to have spoken with Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser. We discussed additional steps to take in this direction and decided to continue coordinating on the issue of providing aid in Ukraine, he said on Telegram.