Russian Defence Ministry claims their General Staff Chief visited Zaporizhzhia Oblast

The Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed that Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, has visited the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine.

Source: Russian Ministry of Defence on Telegram

Quote: "While working in the area of the special military operation [as the Russians call the war against Ukraine – ed.], the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov, inspected the forward command post of the grouping of troops on the Zaporizhzhia front."

Details: Gerasimov reportedly heard a report from the group's commander, Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, on "the current situation, the nature of the enemy's actions and the performance of combat missions by Russian troops on the Orikhiv tactical front".

The Russian Ministry of Defence also shared a one-minute video of Gerasimov, but it is not clear where the Russian general is located.

Why this is important: The Russian Ministry of Defence shares photos and videos of Russian military leaders from time to time, supposedly from the war zone in Ukraine. However, the Russian ministry has been caught lying before. For example, on 18 December 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defence posted a video showing Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu flying over military positions in a helicopter. But it later turned out that Shoigu was actually about 80 kilometres from the front, in temporarily occupied Crimea.

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