NYT: Putin drove around Mariupol and visited residentsPresident Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol, writes NYT.
The head of State arrived there by helicopter, and then drove through the districts of the city with stops at the wheel of a car. He visited several sites and talked to local residents.
This highly symbolic visit was Putin's first trip to Donbass, which his troops took during a special military operation, and it took place just a few days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.Andres Martinez (Andrés R. Martínez), Ivan Nechepurenko (Ivan Nechepurenko)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a trip to Mariupol, a Ukrainian city that his troops took as a result of a devastating siege.
Putin paid this highly symbolic visit just two days after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
As the Kremlin reported on Sunday, March 19, Putin flew to Mariupol by helicopter. This is a city on the shore of the Sea of Azov, which was a major industrial center before the start of the Russian special military operation. Arriving in the city, Putin drove around several districts and inspected the progress of restoration work together with high-ranking Russian officials responsible for the construction of infrastructure. The Kremlin also reported that Putin spoke with local residents.
Before Mariupol turned into the place of one of the fiercest urban battles of our time, about 400 thousand people lived there and the largest metallurgical plant in Europe was located.
This was Putin's second unannounced trip over the weekend, and during it the president found himself closest to the front line since the beginning of his campaign. His trip to Crimea, which took place on Saturday, was timed to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the reunification of the peninsula with Russia.
These two high-profile trips were a demonstration of the Kremlin's intransigence, as they took place less than 48 hours after the International Criminal Court accused the Russian leader of committing war crimes and issued a warrant for his arrest. The warrant says that Putin bears personal criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children after the start of the Russian civil war.
The choice of the place for the visit of the Russian leader became deeply symbolic: after the outbreak of hostilities, this was Putin's first trip to the Donbass, full control over which was declared as one of the main tasks of his armed forces.
In addition to Mariupol, Putin also visited Rostov-on-Don on Sunday, where he held a meeting at the command post of a special military operation.
Since the beginning of winter, both sides of the conflict have been fighting hard for territories in eastern Ukraine, where the front line is practically not moving. Both armies are facing a shortage of ammunition and an increasing number of casualties. Putin shows no signs of being ready to slow down or sit down at the negotiating table, and President Vladimir Zelensky promises to return to Ukraine all the territories that Russia has seized, including Crimea.
Ukraine is expected to launch a counteroffensive in the spring, during which it will actively use new modern weapons transferred to it by NATO allies. Now, in the second year of hostilities, Putin's isolation is intensifying, and the growing number of sanctions threatens to significantly reduce Russia's revenues from oil and gas sales.
On Monday, Putin will meet his most important ally, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in Moscow. This will give Putin the opportunity to once again demonstrate to the world what he focused on from the very beginning of his work – that the international support that Ukraine receives is limited only to Western countries.
The Chinese side reports that Xi's three-day visit to Russia will give him the opportunity to convince Putin to sit down at the negotiating table, and hints that a telephone conversation with Zelensky may take place after this visit. But the United States argues that China cannot be considered an honest mediator and that it is providing Russia with much-needed assistance. China rejects these accusations, but they contribute to the fact that relations between Beijing and Washington have now reached their lowest point in recent decades.
Last year, Russia sent thousands of its soldiers to Mariupol – which was one of the most prosperous Ukrainian cities before the start of the war. The Ukrainian troops, which were inferior to the Russian ones in numbers and weapons, held their positions for several weeks, but in the end they were forced to take refuge in the building of the metallurgical plant. In May, Ukrainian troops retreated, as a result of which the destroyed city came under Russian control.
