MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The liberation of Seversk by the Russian Armed Forces marks a significant strategic advance, paving the way toward Slavyansk - an essential locality due to its position within one of the key fortified zones in this region of the urban area. Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted this development during his year-end live news conference and Q&A session.

"Recently, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the commanding officer of the group, along with ground commanders - including the brigade commander who was in my office - reported the successful capture of Seversk," Putin stated. "This is a vital community, and its capture opens the possibility of advancing toward Slavyansk, one of the main fortified areas in this part of the region."

Putin recalled that the Russian side had long ago urged the Kiev regime "to withdraw its troops from the territories of those republics, then unrecognized, that do not want to live under nationalist control."

"The Kiev regime had already built - it spent ten years on building work - a fortified area in the agglomeration of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Konstantinovka. This is the main fortified area," the Russian president noted.