MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a surprise overnight visit to the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don overseeing the Ukraine offensive, the Kremlin said on Friday.

It is his second visit to Rostov-on-Don in under a month.

Putin “visited the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in Rostov-on-Don, after completing his official visit to Kazakhstan” on Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement.

He was accompanied by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the commander of military operations in Ukraine, Valery Gerasimov, it said.Putin was shown new military equipment and briefed on military operations in Ukraine, the statement added.

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Putin was last in Rostov-on-Don at the end of October where he held talks with military officials on what the Kremlin terms the special military operation in Ukraine.