Vladimir Putin has visited the occupied Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol, in response to Russian media stories.
The president made what state media described as a “working trip” to the port metropolis, which he annexed in September final yr following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Putin, who arrived in a helicopter, travelled round a number of districts of the town, making stops and speaking to residents, in response to Russia’s TASS state-owned information company, citing the Kremlin.
It is believed to be his first journey to Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia since its invasion final yr.
The go to follows the widely-condemned annexation of the areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia in September.
The go to additionally comes as Mr Putin visited Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine in 2014.
Most of the world considers Russia’s annexations to be unlawful, whereas Ukraine has mentioned it’ll battle to get the areas again.
Mariupol, a strategically necessary metropolis situated within the Donetsk Oblast and beside the Sea of Azov, was the location of a few of the fiercest combating within the early a part of the battle.
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Ukrainian forces holed up within the metropolis’s Azovstal steelworks for a last-stand defensive, which resulted in give up in May after a three-month siege of the ability by Russia.
The Azovstal metal mill in Mariupol
Alongside the go to, Russian media reported that Mr Putin met with the highest command of his navy operation in Ukraine, together with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
The assembly is alleged to have taken place on the Rostov-on-Don command submit, in southern Russia, close to to the Ukrainian border, in response to TASS.
On Saturday, the Russian president made a 1,132-mile airplane journey from Moscow to Sevastopol – Crimea’s largest metropolis – a day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him.
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The court docket says he’s liable for the kidnapping of lots of of Ukrainian youngsters since Russia’s full invasion of the nation started in February final yr.
In Crimea, he was greeted by Mikhail Razvozhayev – the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol – earlier than visiting an artwork faculty and a youngsters’s centre.
Mr Putin’s remarks weren’t broadcast by state media however as just lately as Friday, he was speaking in regards to the significance of holding on to Crimea.
“Obviously, security issues take top priority for Crimea and Sevastopol now,” he mentioned.
“We will do everything needed to fend off any threats.”
Mr Putin has not commented publicly on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, however his spokesman known as it “null and void” on Friday.
Russia doesn’t recognise the jurisdiction of the court docket, which is predicated in The Hague.
It additionally doesn’t extradite its residents to face the court docket’s justice, which means Mr Putin is unlikely to ever face trial there.
Source: information.sky.com”
