Putin listens to his military commanders regarding Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a visit to the headquarters of the operation in Ukraine, asked the commanders of the armed forces to present proposals for the further, in their opinion, development of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, the Kremlin reported on Saturday, reports newssky.com.ua with reference to cnbc.

A series of defeats in 10 months of fighting, which have driven Russian troops from areas around Ukraine's capital Kyiv and Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, and most recently from the city of Kherson, have prompted Putin to call for reservists and prompted rare public criticism from military bloggers and some allies

After appointing Air Force Gen. Serhiy Surovykin as campaign chief in October, Russian ground forces have focused more on defense than offense, while waves of airstrikes on cities have left millions of Ukrainian civilians without heat, light and water for days on end as winter sets in.

In video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin presided over a meeting of about a dozen people at a round table, flanked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov - both of whom were heavily criticized by hawkish commentators.

Then Putin was shown at the head of another conference table at the headquarters of the Joint Task Force, where he invited to participate in the discussion of proposals from a number of military leaders.

"We will listen to the commanders of each operational direction, and I would like to hear your proposals for our immediate and medium-term actions," Putin said.

In the photos posted on the Kremlin's website, Surovikin is also present at the meetings.

Putin spent all of Friday at the operational group's headquarters, his press secretary Dmytro Peskov told Interfax.

Other details of Putin's visit or the location of the headquarters have not been disclosed.