After a lightning visit to the Crimea
Kremlin: Putin is shown occupied Mariupol
03/19/2023 5:17 am
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin has avoided areas close to the front. But at the weekend, the Kremlin boss surprisingly showed up in Crimea. According to information from Moscow, he is also paying a visit to the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
For the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has visited the occupied territories of the neighboring country. As the Kremlin announced during the night, Putin had paid a “working visit” to the port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, which had been destroyed in heavy fighting.
After his arrival in a helicopter, he informed himself about the situation during a tour and also talked to residents of the city, the state agency Tass reported. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chusnullin informed Putin about the status of the reconstruction work.
On Saturday afternoon, Putin visited the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. State television broadcast images of the Kremlin chief opening an art school for children in Sevastopol. He also visited a children’s holiday camp, which is located at the excavation site of the ancient city of Cherson in what is now Sevastopol, and is intended to bring history closer to children.
According to media reports, Putin was last in Crimea in July 2020. Since the beginning of the war of aggression he ordered against Ukraine, the Russian president has generally avoided areas close to the front. At the end of 2022, he tested the navigability of the Crimean Bridge, which was badly damaged by an attack in the fall.
Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24 last year. Mariupol was besieged by Russian troops and only came under full Russian military control on May 20. The city was largely destroyed during the fighting.