Vladimir Putin makes surprise visit to occupied Mariupol in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has made a astonishment sojourn to the occupied Ukrainian larboard metropolis of Mariupol successful a amusement of defiance after the planetary transgression tribunal issued an apprehension warrant for him connected warfare crimes charges.

Russian authorities media released footage connected Sunday showing the president connected what is believed to person been his archetypal travel to Russian-occupied territories successful Ukraine’s Donbas portion since helium launched a full-scale penetration past year.

The Tass quality bureau reported that Putin flew by chopper to Mariupol connected Saturday and took a circuit of the city, astatine times driving his ain car. He visited respective sites and spoke with residents, and was presented with a study connected reconstruction enactment successful the city.

Mariupol fell successful May past twelvemonth aft 1 of the war’s longest and bloodiest battles. It marked Russia’s archetypal large triumph successful its warfare successful Ukraine, aft it failed to prehend the capital, Kyiv, and focused alternatively connected south-eastern targets.

The larboard metropolis was captured aft a agelong siege successful which Russian forces destroyed the Azovstal alloy works, the past holdout of Ukrainian forces successful the city. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia’s aboriginal bombing of a Mariupol maternity infirmary was a warfare crime.

On Saturday Putin had travelled to Crimea, a abbreviated region south-west of Mariupol, to people the ninth day of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.

Russian authorities TV showed him visiting the Black Sea larboard metropolis of Sevastopol, accompanied by the section Moscow-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev. The Russian authorities quality bureau RIA Novosti said Putin visited an creation schoolhouse and a children’s centre there.

These locations appeared to person been chosen successful effect to the ICC’s apprehension warrant, which came astir aft a sheet of judges agreed that determination were “reasonable grounds” to judge Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, bore work for the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv says much than 16,000 Ukrainian children person been deported to Russia since the commencement of the struggle successful February 2022, galore of them placed successful institutions and foster homes.

The ICC authoritative Karim Khan told AFP that Putin was present liable for apprehension if helium acceptable ft successful immoderate of the court’s much than 120 subordinate states.

Putin has not commented publically connected the warrant, which deepened his planetary isolation adjacent though it is improbable helium volition look proceedings immoderate clip soon. The Kremlin dismissed its validity arsenic “void” since Russia did not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction.

Speaking to the authorities RIA bureau connected Sunday, the Russian lawman premier curate Marat Khusnulin claimed that Russia was successful Mariupol to stay. He said the authorities hoped to decorativeness the reconstruction of its blasted downtown by the extremity of the year.

“People person started to return. When they saw that reconstruction is nether way, radical started actively returning,” Khusnulin told RIA.

When Moscow afloat captured the metropolis successful May, an estimated 100,000 radical remained retired of a prewar colonisation of 450,000. Many were trapped without food, water, vigor oregon electricity. Relentless bombardment near rows upon rows of shattered oregon hollowed-out buildings.

While Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has made a fig of trips to the battlefield to boost the morale of his troops and speech strategy, Putin has mostly remained wrong the Kremlin portion moving what Russia calls its “special subject operation” successful Ukraine.

His travel besides came earlier a planned sojourn to Moscow by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, this week, expected to supply a diplomatic boost to Putin successful his confrontation with the west.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine successful 2014, a determination that astir of the satellite denounced arsenic illegal, and moved connected past September to officially assertion 4 regions successful Ukraine’s southbound and eastbound arsenic Russian territory, pursuing referendums that Kyiv and the westbound described arsenic a sham.