A day after being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, President Vladimir Putin has made a surprise visit to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, scene of some of the worst devastation of his year-old invasion.
Russian state television showed extended footage of Mr Putin being shown around the city on Saturday night (local time), meeting rehoused residents and being briefed on reconstruction efforts by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.
The port city of Mariupol became known around the world as a byword for death and destruction as much of it was reduced to ruins in the first months of the war, eventually falling to Russian forces in May.
Hundreds were killed in the bombing of a theatre where families with children were sheltering.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation and Europe said Russia’s early bombing of a maternity hospital there was a war crime.
Russia denied that and has said since it invaded on February 24 last year that it does not target civilians.
Mr Putin’s visit had the air of a gesture of defiance after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest on Friday, accusing him of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
He has not publicly commented on the move but his spokesman said it was legally “null and void” and that Russia found the very questions raised by the ICC to be “outrageous and unacceptable”.
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the visit to the devastated city was tantamount to a perpetrator returning to the scene of the crime.
“The criminal always returns to the crime scene,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
“As the civilised world announces the arrest of the ‘war director’ (VV Putin) in case of crossing its borders, the murderer of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins of the city & graves. Cynicism & lack of remorse.”
The visit to Mariupol was Mr Putin’s first to the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donbas region since the war started, and the closest he has come to the front lines.
While Mr Zelensky has made several trips to the battlefield to boost the morale of his troops and talk strategy, Mr Putin has largely remained inside the Kremlin while running what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Ukraine and its allies say the invasion is an imperialistic land grab that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people in Ukraine.
Mr Putin’s trip to Mariupol took place in darkness.
State TV showed him at the wheel of a car, driving through the city in the company of his deputy prime minister, Mr Khusnullin, and being briefed in detail on the rebuilding of housing, bridges, hospitals, transport routes and a concert hall.
State media said he visited a residential neighbourhood that had been built by Russian military, with the first people moving in last September.
“Do you live here? Do you like it?” Mr Putin was shown asking residents.
“Very much. It’s a little piece of heaven that we have here now,” a woman replied, clasping her hands and thanking Mr Putin for “the victory”.
Residents had been “actively” returning, Mr Khusnullin told Mr Putin.
Mariupol had a population of half a million people before the war and was home to the Azovstal steel plant, one of Europe’s largest, where
Ukrainian fighters held out for weeks in underground tunnels and bunkers before being forced to surrender.
“The downtown has been badly damaged,” Mr Khusnullin said.
“We want to finish [reconstruction] of the centre by the end of the year, at least the facade part. The centre is very beautiful.”
From Mariupol, Mr Putin went to Rostov in southern Russia, where state TV on Sunday showed him meeting Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, commander of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
The latest on the war in Ukraine.
A deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain has been renewed for at least 60 days – half the intended period – after Russia warned any further extension would depend on the removal of some Western sanctions.
Putin and the arrest warrant
- Mr Putin might not see the inside of a cell anytime soon, but his war crimes arrest warrant from the ICC could hurt his ability to travel freely and meet other world leaders, who might feel less inclined to speak to a wanted man. Moscow denies committing atrocities in the conflict.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping walks a diplomatic tightrope as he heads to Moscow on Monday, seeking to present China as a global peacemaker while strengthening ties with Mr Putin, his closest ally, who is increasingly isolated by the West.
Diplomacy, NATO
- Three senior US security officials held a video call with a group of their Ukrainian counterparts to discuss military aid to Kyiv, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff said.
Fighting
- Ukrainian forces outside the battered eastern city of Bakhmut are managing to keep Russian units at bay so ammunition, food, equipment, and medicines can be delivered to defenders, the army said on Saturday.
- Russia’s Wagner mercenary group plans to recruit approximately 30,000 new fighters by the middle of May, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday.
- Reuters could not verify battleground reports.
Economy
- Britain will help Kazakhstan develop export routes bypassing Russia, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said on a visit to the Central Asian nation on Saturday, where he also signed a memorandum on supplies of critical minerals.
