Vladimir Putin makes rare trip to Ukraine frontline as he’s helicoptered in for carefully staged visit to Kherson

VLADIMIR Putin has appeared to limp during his latest surprise visit to Ukraine. The 70-year-old Russian president was seen walking stiffly as he emerged from a helicopter in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. east2west newsPutin has made a surprise visit to eastern Ukraine[/caption] He was also seen awkwardly getting out of an SUV before being greeted by the top brass at a military base in the east of the country. Vlad seemed to limp as he walked towards his commanders while an aide was seen possibly carrying the infamous nuclear suitcase. It isn’t clear how recent the visit was, however, it is believed it took place several days ago ahead of the Orthodox Easter. The visit was only announced today by the Kremlin, which released heavily-edited footage of Putin’s trip. It comes a month after Putin’s shock visit to Mariupol in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine. The Kremlin said of the visit: “The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation visited the headquarters of the Dnipro grouping of troops in the Kherson direction and the headquarters of the Vostok National Guard in the Luhansk People’s Republic.”