Video Putin's joke on the subject of occupying a new Ukraine region: “He wants, more of everything.” Whom he took in the viewfinder

Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed, during a visit to the Kursk region of southwestern Russia, to amuse himself on the topic of military occupation of the Sumî region in Ukraine, even though the Kremlin claims that he is to conclude negotiations for the termination of the war, writes the independent publication The Moscow Times on Wednesday.

The moment was surprised in a registration published by the State News Agency Tass, in which a local official in the glushkovsky district, located near the border with Ukraine, told Putin: “Sum should be ours.”

“We cannot live as if we were on a peninsula. There should be more of ours (Russians, no). At least in Sumî,” added that official, Pavel Zolotarev. “With you as a supreme commander, we will defeat,” he added.

Zolotarev's proposal came in response to Putin's question about how far the Russian forces should push Ukrainian troops from the border.

Putin, smiling and gesturing to nearby officials, made a joke, saying that the appointment of Alexander Khinshtein as the interim governor of the Kursk region is part of this effort: “That is why Alexander Yevseyevich was chosen. And he wants, more of everything.”

The remark of the Kremlin leader was greeted with laughter from the officials present.

Asked About Claim that Sumy Should Become Russian Territory, Putin 'Joked' That Alexander Khinshtein Was Made Acting Governor of Kursk Because He “Wants More and More.” pic.twitter.com/pwnsdm0h0w

– Noelreports 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@noelreports) May 21, 2025

Putin's comments came a few days after several reports said that Russian negotiators threatened to occupy Sumî and Kharkov regions during the direct peace negotiations last week in Turkey.

Moscow did not officially claim any of these regions, although both have been subjected to intense attacks from the Russian army in recent months.

Previously this month, the Ministry of Defense of Russia said that it set up a “buffer zone” in the Sumî region of Ukraine, thus echoing the justification used for the current offensive in Kharkov.

The army's statement followed Putin's appeal, launched during a previous visit to Kursk, for the armed forces to push the Ukrainian army as far from the Russian border.

The head of the General Staff of Russia, General Valeri Gherasimov, told Putin during that visit that the Kursk region was “completely released” with the help of North Korean troops. The Ukrainian forces had occupied parts of the border region following a surprise incursion, launched in August last year.

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