“New regions have appeared – well, this is still an important result for Russia,” Putin said, referring to the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.
He also made special reference to Russia gaining control of all the land along the Sea of Azov.
“The Sea of Azov has become an internal sea for the Russian Federation, this is a serious matter,” he said.
Despite their best efforts, Russian troops have never fully controlled any occupied territory at any point and were even driven out of the capital of Kherson after a month-long Ukrainian counteroffensive. was.
Amid domestic fears of a new callup – which triggered an exodus of Russians to avoid an emergency draft abroad in September – Putin said there was “no need” for a new mobilization.
“Of our 300,000 mobilized fighters, our men, defenders of the fatherland, 150,000 are in the zone of operation,” including 77,000 in combat units, he said.