Vladimir Putin flew to Mariupol for a shock go to to Russiaan-occupied territory in Ukraine, in keeping with Kremlin’s press release.
Putin arrived by helicopter, after which drove by town in a automobile, the Kremlin stated, inspecting reconstruction works in a number of neighborhoods. The Kremlin additionally stated that Putin spoke with some native residents however didn’t point out the precise time when it occurred.
It was Putin’s second journey to newly annexed territories after he visited Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s unlawful takeover of the Black Sea peninsula.
The information comes lower than two days after the Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Friday for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, an official in his workplace chargeable for youngsters’s rights, due to their alleged involvement within the illegal deportation and switch of Ukrainian youngsters from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Mariupol, a port metropolis on the Sea of Azov in Donetsk Oblast, turned an emblem of Ukrainian resistance throughout weeks of Russian assaults final 12 months, which included the bombing of a maternity hospital, humanitarian corridors, and the day by day shelling of house buildings. All of that whereas town’s defenders held out on the Azovstal metal plant.
The town, previously house to greater than 430,000 individuals, is direct Russian management since Could 2022.
