Putin makes surprise trip to Russian-occupied Mariupol in wake of ICC warrant

A time aft being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, President Vladimir Putin made a astonishment sojourn to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol, country of immoderate of the worst devastation of his year-old invasion.

State tv showed extended footage of Putin being shown astir the metropolis connected Saturday night, gathering rehoused residents and being briefed connected reconstruction efforts by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

The larboard metropolis of Mariupol became known astir the satellite arsenic a byword for decease and demolition arsenic overmuch of it was reduced to ruins successful the archetypal months of the war, yet falling to Russian forces successful May.

Hundreds were killed successful the bombing of a theatre wherever families with children were sheltering. The Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia's aboriginal bombing of a maternity infirmary determination was a war crime. Moscow denied that and has said since it invaded connected Feb. 24 past twelvemonth that it does not people civilians.

Putin's sojourn had the aerial of a motion of defiance aft the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his apprehension connected Friday, accusing him of the warfare transgression of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

He has not publically commented connected the move, but his spokesperson said it was legally "null and void" and that Russia recovered the precise questions raised by the ICC to beryllium "outrageous and unacceptable".

The sojourn to Mariupol was the archetypal that Putin has made to the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine's Donbas portion since the warfare started, and the closest helium has travel to the beforehand lines.

While Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made a fig of trips to the battlefield to boost the morale of his troops and speech strategy, Putin has mostly remained wrong the Kremlin portion moving what Russia calls its "special subject operation" successful Ukraine.

Kyiv and its allies accidental the penetration is an imperialistic onshore drawback that has killed thousands and displaced millions of radical successful Ukraine.

Putin's travel to Mariupol took spot successful darkness. State TV showed him astatine the instrumentality of a car, driving done the metropolis successful the institution of his lawman premier minister, Khusnullin, and being briefed successful item connected the rebuilding of housing, bridges, hospitals, transport routes and a performance hall.

State media said helium visited a caller residential neighbourhood that had been built by Russian subject with the archetypal radical moving successful past September.

"Do you unrecorded here? Do you similar it?" Putin was shown asking residents.

"Very much. It's a small portion of eden that we person present now," a pistillate replied, clasping her hands and thanking Putin for "the victory".

Residents person been "actively" returning, Khusnullin told Putin. Mariupol had a colonisation of fractional a cardinal radical earlier the warfare and was location to the Azovstal alloy plant, 1 of Europe's largest, wherever Ukrainian fighters held retired for weeks successful underground tunnels and bunkers earlier being forced to surrender.

"The downtown has been severely damaged," Khusnullin said. "We privation to decorativeness (reconstruction) of the centre by the extremity of the year, astatine slightest the facade part. The centre is precise beautiful."

There was nary contiguous absorption to the sojourn from the Ukrainian government.

Mariupol is successful the Donetsk region, 1 of 4 mostly Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that Putin moved successful September to annex successful an enactment rejected arsenic amerciable by astir countries astatine the United Nations General Assembly.

Putin travelled determination by chopper aft a sojourn to Crimea connected the ninth day of its annexation by Russia from Ukraine.

From Mariupol, helium went to Rostov successful confederate Russia, wherever authorities TV connected Sunday showed him gathering Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, commandant of Russia's warfare effort successful Ukraine.