Video shows Putin discussing Ukrainian offensive with generals

The Kremlin has released a video showing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and his deputy Sergey Rudskoy. "The Kremlin's press service posted the video without sound," notes the BBC. There are also blurred papers on the table.

There are blurred papers on the table where Vladimir Putin, Valery Gerasimov, and Sergey Rudskoy are sitting. The video lasts about a minute. According to the official Kremlin statement, Gerasimov reported to Putin on the situation in the Kursk area, where a Ukrainian offensive has been ongoing for 33 days.

Putin is also shown against the backdrop of seven landline phones. The Kremlin claims that through these, Putin "received reports from military group commanders about the operational situation in their assigned areas."

The Russian BBC service claims that, according to reports, the meeting took place at one of the Russian Ministry of Defense command posts.

"It's hard to understand how the discussion about the military commanders' report went – the Kremlin's press service posted the video without sound," notes the BBC.

Both Putin and Sergey Lavrov, the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have publicly declared many times that Russia's response to the attack on the Kursk area will be "very severe."

During Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "the sick old man from Red Square, constantly threatening everyone with a red button, will not dictate to us his 'red lines'."

Ukraine and Ukrainians will decide for themselves how to live, which path to take, and what choices to make, said President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, Ukraine's Independence Day.

Our enemy will know what retaliation in Ukrainian style means. Dignified, symmetrical long-range retaliation. They will know that every place in the Russian Federation that poses a threat to the life of our state and our people will, sooner or later, receive a Ukrainian response, declared the president, referring to the Ukrainian military operation in the Kursk area in Russia.