Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol, the first visit of the Russian president to a conquered zone

Arrived by helicopter, he toured the city at the wheel of a car, according to the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol on Sunday March 19, his first visit to a conquered area since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022. This port city in the south of the country was devastated by the bombardments and became the symbol of the resistance against the invasion of the country.

According to images broadcast by Russian television, the trip took place at night, Vladimir Putin being presented with street lighting and speaking with residents. “We pray for you”assured him a resident, saying that the city was “a little piece of paradise”. Vladimir Putin also visited a reconstructed musical theater and followed the presentation of a report on the work of rebuilding the ruined city, according to the Kremlin. “It was all very spontaneous”assured the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov. “His trips to town weren’t planned either”he assured.

90% of the city destroyed, according to kyiv

The Russian president made this night visit “as if he were a thief”retorted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. “Criminals always return to the scene of their crimes… The murderer of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins of the city and its graves. Cynicism and lack of remorse”wrote Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak on Twitter.

The city fell in May 2022 after fierce resistance from Ukrainian soldiers entrenched, alongside civilians, in the underground passages of the huge Azovstal steelworks. According to kyiv, Mariupol was 90% destroyed and at least 20,000 people died there. The European Union had described the city’s headquarters as “major war crime”.