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Putin Makes Surprise Visit to Occupied Ukraine


President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia travel to Mariupola surprise visit to the Ukrainian city where one of the bloodiest battles took place since the Russian invasion last year, and the last time the Russian leader was on the front lines in the east.

Putin flew by helicopter from Crimea and then toured Mariupol in the eastern Donetsk province, state news agency Tass reported on Sunday.

It was Putin’s second unannounced trip to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine over the weekend and the closest the Russian leader has made to the front lines in the past year. His trip on Saturday to Crimea was arranged to coincide with the 9th anniversary of Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula. Two high-level visits were also gestures of defiance from the Kremlin less than 48 hours later An international court has issued an arrest warrant for him.

For months last year, Russia poured thousands of troops into Mariupol, home to Europe’s largest steel mill, and indiscriminately bombarded the city once home to nearly half a million people. Outnumbered and with fewer and fewer sophisticated weapons, the Ukrainian army held out, eventually taking shelter in the city’s steel mill. Eventually, Ukrainian forces retreated, leaving the devastated city under Russian control.

A report from the state-run Tass news agency called the surprise stop a “business trip” for Putin to review construction and restoration work in the city.

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