Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The Kremlin announced this today. This is the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year that Putin went to occupied territory in the neighboring country.
Putin traveled by helicopter to Mariupol for his “working visit” to the port city on the Sea of Azov, in the Donetsk region. This was followed by a tour of the city to take a closer look and to speak with residents, it says. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Choesnoellin informed the president about the state of reconstruction.
The Kremlin then also announced that Putin had moved to Rostov-on-Don, just across the border in Russia. There he visited the command center of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine and met with the army command. Among others, the Chief of Staff of the Army Valeri Gerasimov was present. Putin last visited the command center on December 17, along with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov.
On Saturday, Putin had already visited Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed in 2014. Among other things, he visited an art school in Sevastopol, the home base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol was the hotbed of the war between Russia and Ukraine in the first months after the invasion and was heavily shelled. The Russians took control of the city in May. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to recapture the city in his daily video message last Thursday.
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