In Mariupoli, wanting to send the message that he feels safe, he went to neighborhoods of the city driving a car himself and made stops to talk to residents.
Two days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him for the war crime of “kidnapping children”, Russian President Putin made two surprise visits to annexed Crimea and occupied Mariupol, in the Ukrainian Donbass region.
In fact, it was the first trip of the Russian president to Mariupol since the beginning of the war and he was closer than ever to the front lines.
According to the Kremlin, the Russian president, wanting to send the message that he feels safe, went to neighborhoods of the city driving a car himself and made stops to talk to residents.
⚡️ Russian media reported that Putin arrived in #Mariupol by helicopter. There, he drove around several micro-districts of the city and allegedly talked to the locals. #RussiaInvadedUkraine pic.twitter.com/ytW53GSHSu
— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) March 19, 2023
In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, a new residential area built by the Russian armed forces, Putin visited a family at their home, Russian media reported.
“The head of state also inspected the coastline of Mariupol in the area of the yacht club, the theater building, memorable parts of the city,” the Interfax news agency reported citing the Kremlin’s press service.
Russian media reported today that Putin also met with the top commander of his military operation in Ukraine, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, who heads Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
However, no photos were officially distributed from his visit to Mariupol, as was the case with the visit earlier in the day to Crimea.
It is his first visit to the annexed peninsula in three years. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, eight years before its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine says it will fight to oust Russia from Crimea and other territories Moscow has seized during that war.
The Russian president, defying the West, participated in the events for the 9th anniversary of its annexation – Watch video
This was Putin’s first visit to the annexed peninsula in three years.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, eight years before its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine says it will fight to oust Russia from Crimea and other territories Moscow has seized during that war.
Source :Skai
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