MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin receives information about what is happening in the special military operation in Ukraine from numerous sources, including from field commanders and military reporters, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"The president is receiving information from numerous sources, which include official reports and daily briefings from the [Russian] Defense Ministry, because he is, after all, the Commander-in-Chief, as well as from simply communicating with ordinary people, field commanders who just completed battle. He also speaks with wounded people in hospitals and he definitely gets information from mass media," Peskov told journalists at a news briefing.

The presidential spokesman assured that "the president receives information from multiple sources and is able to get a clear picture of what is happening on the ground. He will certainly carry on with this practice."

"He will continue communicating with military reporters, ordinary troops, field commanders, etc. This is how he does it; that’s his strong suit," Peskov added.

Asked by a journalist whether state officials or the Defense Ministry would get jealous because of Putin’s close collaboration with military reporters, Peskov replied: "Of course not, it’s out of the question."

On Tuesday, President Putin held an hours-long meeting with military reporters in Moscow to discuss the current state and prospects of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

Russia’s special military operation

On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the DPR and LPR leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as they existed at the beginning of 2014.

Putin announced on February 24, 2022, that, in response to a request by the heads of the DPR and LPR for assistance, he had decided to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and LPR launched a joint operation to liberate their territories that were under Kiev’s control.

From September 23 to September 27, 2022, the DPR and the LPR as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions held referendums on joining Russia, in which the majority of voters opted to join Russia.

On September 30, 2022, Putin and the heads of the DPR and LPR, and of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions signed treaties on their accession to the Russian Federation. Later, the State Duma (lower house of Russia’s parliament) and the Federation Council (upper house) approved legislation on ratifying these treaties, as well as federal constitutional laws on the accession of the four regions to Russia.