Occupied Mariupol paid visit by Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a weekend visit to the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, inspecting reconstruction work and visiting the home of at least one local resident, the Kremlin said in a statement Sunday.
Putin arrived Saturday night in the port city that has been under Russian control since May and was illegally annexed by Moscow in September.
“As befits a thief, Putin visited Ukrainian Mariupol, under the cover of night,” the Ukraine Defense Ministry tweeted. “First, it is safer. Also, darkness allows him to highlight what he wants to show, and keeps the city his army completely destroyed and its few surviving inhabitants away from prying eyes.”
Putin flew in by helicopter, and then drove through the city inspecting reconstruction work in several neighborhoods, the statement said. It was Putin’s second trip to newly annexed territories, this time after visiting Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of Russia’s illegal takeover of the Black Sea peninsula.
The news comes less than two days after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, an official in his office responsible for children’s rights. The court cited their alleged involvement in unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that as the civilized world announced the arrest warrants, “the murderer of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins” of the city and its graves.
“The criminal always returns to the crime scene,” Pololyak tweeted. “Cynicism & lack of remorse.”
Developments:
⬤ Putin signed two bills into law in recent days significantly increasing fines and jail time for disparaging Russian forces in Ukraine – and for selling Russian arms to Ukraine or its supporters.
⬤ Yevgeny Prigohzin, head of the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, says Ukrainian forces are preparing to launch counteroffensives in five directions in mid-April. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War says Prigohzin urged Russian forces to prepare by preserving ammunition and equipment.