Putin's Surprise Visit To Annexed Territories Sparks Defiance From Ukraine: 'We Will Defeat Russia'

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Moscow forces in parts of Ukraine's annexed territories.

What Happened: Putin visited Russian army personnel in Ukraine's Kherson and Luhansk regions that Moscow annexed in sham referendums condemned by the international community. 

The Russian leader attended a military command meeting in Kherson and visited a national guard headquarters in Luhansk.

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The Presidential office did not say when Putin made the visits. This was the second such trip in two months that the Russian leader had visited the occupied regions.

Putin was briefed about the situation in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia by various high-ranking officers, including those from the airborne forces, the “Dnieper” army group, and other commanders, during his time in Kherson.

Meanwhile, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Ukraine's allies are helping the government achieve the technical equipment necessary to launch the attack, delivering heavy armored vehicles and ammunition.

"We will defeat Russia," he told The Associated Press in an interview.

"If you have a strong inner spirit, you will definitely win. And we always had it strong. This is something that always annoyed the Russians."

Why It Matters: Last year, Putin declared the annexation of four Ukrainian territories, which included Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk, in the eastern part of Ukraine.

However, the West refused to recognize the annexations and rejected them as illegal. The Russian forces also don't have full control over these regions.

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