The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on Tuesday that "Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov visited Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine," according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Gerasimov inspected one of the command centers and emphasized the importance of conducting preemptive strikes against Ukrainian forces. Gerasimov has faced intense criticism for several months from Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military group Wagner, as well as some Russian military bloggers, due to Russia's failures in the war. It took more than two weeks before he appeared publicly for the first time on July 10. Tuesday's statement and accompanying video seem aimed at demonstrating that he remains in his position and is actively engaged with troops at the front line.