Putin vows to make military gains in Ukraine as he meets with his campaign staff

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has vowed to drive Ukrainian forces back to reduce the threat of attacks on Russian territory as he met with activists running his campaign ahead of the March presidential election that he’s all but certain to win. Asked Wednesday about plans for the military campaign in Ukraine, Putin said the line of contact needs to be pushed back to “such a distance from our territory that will make it secure from shelling by Western-supplied long-range artillery.” He also declared that Russian investigators concluded the Ukrainian military used U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles to shoot down a Russian plane over the Belgorod region on Jan. 24.