Vladimir Putin will have an extended meeting with the Russian Minister of Defense
Russian President Vladimir Putin will have an extensive meeting today with the Russian Minister of Defense and also with senior military officials to summarize the activities of the Russian Armed Forces in 2022 and to define the tasks for the coming year, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will attend the meeting "to report on the progress of the special military operation" in Ukraine and arms deliveries to the armed forces, the Kremlin added. The meeting will take place in the context of Vladimir Putin giving up this year holding his traditional year-end press conference, which has been held annually since 2001. Russia, which launched a major offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor in February, has faced major military setbacks in recent months, prompting it to withdraw from the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine and the city of Kherson in the south. Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Tuesday that the situation is "extremely difficult" in the four regions of southern and eastern Ukraine that Moscow has claimed annexation without fully controlling.
