Putin responds to Zelenskyy's video near Kupiansk sign and calls him a "talented actor"
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russian forces are advancing along the entire front and has commented on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's video recorded by the entrance sign to Kupiansk, which the Kremlin leader had earlier claimed Russian forces had captured.
Source: live broadcast of Putin's Direct Line; BBC; Russian outlet Meduza
Details: Answering a direct question from propagandists about how Zelenskyy could "dare to commit such a fraud at such a critical moment", Putin first said that he "does not follow this", but then added that the Ukrainian president is a "talented actor".
He went on to say that, in his view, there is "nothing unusual" in this. Putin added that "they say the stele [at the entrance to Kupiansk – ed.] looks different now. Well, why stand on the doorstep? Go into the house, right? If Kupiansk is indeed under their control".
In Putin's opinion, it is supposedly impossible to approach Kupiansk "just like that", because unmanned aerial vehicles operated by both Ukrainian and Russian forces are circling in the sky "like flies".
On 2 December, Putin ostentatiously "invited" foreign journalists, including Ukrainian journalists, to visit Pokrovsk and Kupiansk in order to allegedly demonstrate that Russia controls these cities.
On 12 December it became known that Ukraine's defence forces had carried out a successful counter-attack near Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast and encircled a Russian grouping in the city.
On the same day, Zelenskyy visited the Kupiansk front, recorded a video by the half-destroyed city stele and congratulated the Ground Forces on their day.
Zelenskyy said in his address from the Kupiansk front: "Today I am on the Kupiansk front, with our soldiers who are achieving results for Ukraine here. The Russians have talked a lot about Kupiansk – we can see how things really are. I was here, I congratulated our guys. I am grateful to every unit, to everyone who is fighting here, to everyone who is destroying the occupier."
Putin also began to boast about the offensive actions being carried out by Russian forces along all sectors of the front. According to him, the Russians have allegedly captured Siversk, and he claimed that attempts by Ukraine's defence forces to recapture Pokrovsk have been "unsuccessful".
He also said that he expects further "successes" by Russian forces along the line of contact before the end of the year.
Background: On 18 December, responding to questions from journalists, Zelenskyy expressed confidence that his video message from Kupiansk had been important for Ukraine's partners, because it once again exposed Putin's lies about new territories supposedly occupied by Russia.
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