- This is his first travel to the Russian-occupied Donbas region of Ukraine.
- The visit comes just two days after Putin paid an unannounced visit to Crimea.
- Putin traveled by helicopter to Mariupol for a “business excursion.”
President Vladimir Putin paid a surprise weekend visit to the war-torn port of Mariupol, according to official media, marking the Kremlin leader’s first travel to the Russian-occupied Donbas region of Ukraine since the conflict began.
The visit comes just two days after Putin paid an unannounced visit to Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s takeover of the peninsula from Ukraine, and just two days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.
Surprise weekend visit
According to official media, President Vladimir Putin conducted a surprise weekend visit to the war-torn port of Mariupol, marking the Kremlin leader’s first visit to Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Donbas region since the conflict began.
The visit comes just two days after Putin paid an unannounced visit to Crimea on Saturday to commemorate the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine, and two days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.
Putin traveled by helicopter to Mariupol for a “business excursion,” according to Russian news media citing the Kremlin. He walked across the city’s many districts, stopping to speak with residents.
That is Putin’s closest visit to the front lines since the year-long conflict began.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on Friday, charging him of war crimes for illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, a highly symbolic step that further isolates the Russian leader.
While Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made several excursions to the battlefield to boost soldier morale and discuss strategy, Putin has primarily remained in the Kremlin while overseeing Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
‘BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN’
Putin paid a visit to a family in Mariupol’s Nevsky area, according to Russian media. The Russian military constructed the new residential neighborhood, with the first residents coming in last September. Residents have been “actively” returning, according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who accompanied Putin.
Before the war, Mariupol had a population of half a million people and was home to the Azovstal steel plant, one of Europe’s largest.
“The downtown has been badly damaged,” Khusnullin said. “We want to finish (reconstruction) of the centre by the end of the year, at least the facade part. The center is very beautiful.”
Russian media released recordings of Putin driving a car at night through a densely populated area and stepping inside what they claimed was the philharmonic, which had been renovated in just three months.
There was also no quick reaction to Kyiv’s visit.
Mariupol is located in the Donetsk region, one of the four territories Putin tried to annex in September. The move was slammed as illegitimate by Kyiv and its Western backers. Donetsk, along with the Luhansk region, makes up the majority of the Donbas industrialized region of Ukraine, which has witnessed Europe’s largest struggle in generations.
According to Russian media, Putin also met with the top commander of his military operation in Ukraine, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who is in charge of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
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