Putin makes trip to Russian military HQ close to border with Ukraine

Vladimir Putin, centre, speaks to the defence and senior officers during his visit (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the southern military district headquarters in Rostov-on-Don as he assessed the state of his country’s forces in Ukraine as the war drags on toward winter.

It was his second public visit to the headquarters in less than a month.