SAINT PETERSBURG, Jan 18 — Russian President Vladimir Putin said today he had "no doubt” Moscow would emerge victorious in Ukraine, despite military setbacks in the nearly year-long offensive.

Victory is "guaranteed, I have no doubt about it,” Putin told workers at a factory in Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg, saying "the unity and solidarity of the Russian people, the courage and heroism of our fighters and, of course, the work of the military-industrial sector” will secure victory. — AFP