Putin tells army to press on with campaign to take southern Ukrainian region

MOSCOW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday told his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine after a Russian commander said Moscow's forces were 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from its biggest city.

Putin made the comments a day after speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump about the prospects for a peace deal in Ukraine and was speaking at a televised Kremlin meeting with top military commanders and Andrei Belousov, the defence minister.

Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinsky, commander of Russia's Dnieper military grouping, told Putin that Russian forces were getting closer to the city of Zaporizhzhia, which had a pre-war population of over 700,000 people.

The wider Zaporizhzhia region - which Moscow controls around 75% of - is one of four Ukrainian provinces which Putin claimed as part of Russia in 2022, a move denounced by Kyiv and many Western countries as an illegal land grab.

"Frontline (Russian) units are located about 15 kilometres from the southern outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia," Teplinsky told Putin who responded:

"We understand and are aware that the enemy directly opposite you has been preparing its defence for many years, and we know how difficult the situation is there. But nevertheless, you are managing to accomplish the tasks facing the grouping."

The Kremlin chief told Teplinsky that he wanted more of the same.

"In the near future, it is necessary to continue the offensive, together with the East grouping to liberate Zaporizhzhia," said Putin.

General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia's General Staff, had earlier told Putin that Moscow's forces were advancing along nearly the entire front line, while Kyiv's forces were focused on defence and attempting to counter attack.

Gerasimov reported that Russian forces in 2025 had captured 6,640 square kilometres (2,563 square miles) of territory in Ukraine, including 334 villages, and that advances notched up in December were the fastest this year.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Lucy PapachristouEditing by Guy Faulconbridge)