Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Sevastopol on the ninth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.
Putin was shown the school of arts and the children’s center “Korsun” near Tauric Chersonese.
The governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, noted that Putin’s visit was not planned and that the president “knows how to surprise.”
“Today we were supposed to open a children’s art school in Chersonese. Everything was ready for a videoconference and a report to the president via special communications. And Vladimir Vladimirovich took it and came. Myself. Behind the wheel,” Razvozhaev said.
This is Putin’s first visit to Crimea since the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine. The last time before that, the President of the Russian Federation visited the peninsula in November 2021.
On the anniversary of the annexation, Putin visited Crimea for the first time since 2020. In 2021 and 2022 on March 18, he attended festive concerts in Moscow. In 2023, the Russian authorities did not hold large-scale events there.
