Vladimir Putin has tried to make a show of force visiting the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol. It has been, in his words, a “working visit” to “inspect some places in the city and talk to the residents.”
The Russian president would have traveled by helicopter, as explained by the Kremlin press service to the Russian news agency TASSand would have driven a vehicle through the streets of the city, making several stops in different places.
He then visited the city of Rostov-on-Don, located in southern Russia, near the border with Ukraine, for a meeting with the head of the Armed Forces, Valeri Gerasimov, and several military commanders.
On Saturday, the Russian president also surprised with the first visit to the Crimean peninsula in more than two yearsto mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s incorporation into Russia in what Ukraine and its allies described as an illegal annexation move.
At the beginning of March, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, also made an official visit to Mariupol to analyze the infrastructure reconstruction work in the area.
