Russian troops are advancing across Ukraine battlefield, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow’s troops are advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine, voicing confidence that the Kremlin’s military goals willl be achieved nearly four years after he ordered troops into the neighbouring country.

Speaking at his highly orchestrated year-end news conference, Mr Putin claimed that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make more gains by the year’s end.

In the early days of the conflict in 2022, Ukraine’s forces managed to thwart an attempt by Russia’s larger, better-equipped army, to capture the capital Kyiv.

But the fighting soon settled into grinding battles and Moscow’s troops have made slow but steady progress over the years. Mr Putin frequently touts this progress — even though it is not the lightning advance many expected.

“Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact, faster in some areas or slower in some others, but the enemy is retreating in all sectors,” Mr Putin said at the annual live news conference, which is combined with a nationwide call-in show that offers Russians the opportunity to ask questions.

Mr Putin, who has ruled the country for 25 years, has used the event to cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.

This year, observers are watching for his remarks on Ukraine and the peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump. Despite an extensive diplomatic push, Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Mr Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the Kremlin’s tough conditions for a deal.

Earlier this week, he warned that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands.

The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces have not captured yet — demands Kyiv has rejected.

The Kremlin also insists that Ukraine abandon its bid to join the Western Nato military alliance and warns it will not accept the deployment of any troops from Nato members and will view them as a “legitimate target.”

He has repeatedly said that Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the onset of the conflict.