Putin also visited the Black Sea peninsula to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Mariupol became a symbol of resistance around the world, where many Ukrainian army soldiers held the steel plant for almost three months before it was finally captured by Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. This is Putin’s first visit to Mariupol, which Moscow “illegally” annexed in September. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidential office ‘Kremlin’, said Putin arrived in Mariupol on Saturday night after visiting Crimea. Putin also visited the Black Sea peninsula to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Mariupol became a symbol of resistance around the world, where many Ukrainian army soldiers held the steel plant for almost three months before it was finally captured by Moscow.
Putin, who visited Mariupol after a court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges two days ago, spoke to locals and visited an art school and children’s center in Crimea. Putin has not commented on the arrest warrant. This order will further isolate Russia internationally. The Kremlin has rejected the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as “illegal and invalid”. Putin’s visit comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit Moscow this week, likely to give Putin a significant diplomatic boost amid the confrontation with the West.
Footage broadcast on the Rossiya 24 channel on Sunday showed Putin speaking to locals outside the newly built residential complex. Putin arrived in Mariupol by helicopter, and then traveled by car to the concert hall and the waterfront. Peskov said that after his visit to Mariupol, Putin met Russian military officers and soldiers stationed at the command post in Rostov-on-Don. Peskov told reporters the visit was unannounced and Putin simply wanted to observe the commando’s campaign.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told the state-run RIA news agency on Sunday that the city’s reconstruction will be completed by the end of the year. He said: “People have started to come back. When they saw that the reconstruction work was being done, people started coming back.” Moscow took full control of Mariupol in May last year. On March 9, less than two weeks after the start of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine, Russian troops shelled a maternity hospital, drawing attention to the plight of the city’s population.
A week later, a bombing of a theater was reported to have killed around 300 people who had taken refuge there. Peskov said on Sunday that Moscow considers any decision by the ICC to be “illegal and invalid.” Ukraine has welcomed Friday’s ICC ruling, but Putin is unlikely to be prosecuted because Russia does not recognize the court’s authority. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said at least three people were killed and 19 others wounded in shelling by Russian forces in the past 24 hours.
Disclaimer:Prabhasakshi has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.