JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin, Zelenskyy rally troops with war poised for new phase” – AP
“Putin [reportedly] visited [Russian] command posts … in Ukraine for the second time in two months … while … Zelenskyy made his latest trip near the front line. … [T]he war approaches its 14th month [as] … Kyiv readies a possible counteroffensive with Western-supplied weapons. Some of the most significant of those weapons appeared to have recently arrived …. Ukraine has been pressing for Patriots and other air defense systems … for months, and Germany’s appeared to be the first to have arrived. … Russia’s war in Ukraine has become largely deadlocked, with heavy fighting in the east …. Russia illegally annexed Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia provinces in September, following local referendums that Ukraine and the West denounced as shams. …”