Putin returns ‘like murderer to scene of crime’
‘The murderer of thousands of families came to admire the ruins of the city and graves’
UKRAINE likened Vladimir Putin to a murderer returning to the crime scene after he drove himself around Mariupol in a sign of defiance at his war crimes arrest warrant.
It came as Britain pledged increased support to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to help convict the Russian leader. London will today host a meeting of ministers and prosecutors from 40 countries helping to bring Mr Putin to justice.
It coincides with a summit in Moscow between Mr Putin and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, where Russia is expected to request support against Ukraine.
Mr Putin’s Mariupol trip, a first to captured territory outside Crimea, was seen as an act of defiance to the West prior to his summit with Mr Xi, which is expected to end with a show of supportfrom Beijing.
After flying to Mariupol on a helicopter from occupied Crimea, Mr Putin met residents in a rebuilt apartment block, who thanked him for their new “piece of paradise”. An estimated 22,000 people died during the bombing of Mariupol. Children were also abducted and sent to Russia for indoctrination, for which the ICC put Mr Putin on its wanted list.
“The criminal always returns to the crime,” said Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky. “The murderer of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins of the city and graves.”
In today’s Telegraph, Dominic Raab, the deputy PM, writes: “We are putting all those who carry out atrocities on notice. One day, you will face justice for the crimes carried out against the Ukrainian people.”
‘Putin drove himself without security in order to deceive Nato intelligence’
VLADIMIR PUTIN drove himself through Mariupol, the city he bombed into the ground, in a show of strength as he prepared to meet Xi Jinping in Moscow with a war crimes arrest warrant hanging over him.
The Russian leader capped a weekend of surprise visits to occupied territory by visiting the only major city captured from Ukraine in a snub to the West ahead of a two-day summit with the Chinese president starting today.
On his first visit to territory captured by his army last year, Putin met residents of a rebuilt apartment block and toured a reconstructed orchestra hall.
Putin, who makes limited trips outside Moscow, arrived in Mariupol by helicopter and then drove himself around the city’s “memorial sites”, concert hall and coastline.
One resident, filmed sobbing on his arrival, told Putin she now “owned a little piece of paradise” after the leader asked if she liked her new apartment.
“Wow, we have only ever seen you on television,” one man said after shaking Putin’s hand, in what appeared to be a carefully choreographed display.
Russian security agents in plain clothes and wearing microphones hovered around the president, occasionally whispering into the ear of a resident or guiding them on where to stand.
“We’ll have to get to know each other better,” Putin told the crowd.
The trip preceded Mr Xi’s visit to Moscow, which is expected to provide a diplomatic boost to Putin. The two leaders are scheduled to have a one-to-one meeting today followed by “informal lunch” and more official talks tomorrow.
China has said it wants to “play a constructive role in promoting peace talks”. Beijing has long sought to depict itself as a neutral party. Russia’s military flattened Mariupol, previously a bustling port city of 400,000 people, in March and April last year and, in one of its worst crimes, dropped bombs on a theatre where hundreds of women and children were sheltering. Most were killed.
Despite the destruction and the thouputin sands of civilians killed, the Kremlin has been eager to project its capture of Mariupol as a success. It quickly patched up and painted the main streets and promised to construct new housing.
Putin has been criticised for rarely leaving the Kremlin but he appeared determined to change that over the weekend with a series of surprise visits.
On Saturday he travelled to occupied Crimea to tour a children’s education centre before flying by helicopter to Mariupol and then to Rostov in southern Russia, where he received a battlefield briefing from his top commanders.
Commentators praised his visit to Mariupol as a brave and clever move that gave Western intelligence the slip. Sergei Markov, a former presidential adviser, said: “Putin drove himself through Mariupol without security in order to deceive Nato intelligence as much as possible. He travelled there not as a statesman, but a private individual.”
Marat Khusnullin, one of Russia’s deputy premiers, gave the president a briefing on reconstruction efforts.
has seemed more energised in recent weeks. Commentators linked to the Kremlin have said he is in a far better mood, cracking jokes and laughing.
Six months ago, his army in Ukraine looked to be on the brink of collapse and Putin was being shunned as a pariah, even by other autocratic leaders. Now, though, his army has stabilised its front line.
Russian media outlets have been bragging about Mr Xi’s first trip to the Kremlin since 2019. The Moskovskaya Komsomolts newspaper described it yesterday as a clear “gesture of support for Moscow from the Chinese side”.
Last night, the Kremlin published an article written by Mr Putin for a Chinese newspaper praising their relationship and blaming the West for growing global instability.
In a sign of Mr Putin’s desperation to please Beijing, he said: “We are grateful for the balanced line that China has taken regarding events in Ukraine, for understanding their background and true causes.”