Putin’s spooky tour of occupied Ukraine: Russian leader visits besieged areas of Crimea and Mariupol

  • The defiant Putin began a tour of the occupied territories of Ukraine, stopping in Crimea and Mariupol.
  • The Russian leader visited the besieged areas, which had suffered heavy losses since the beginning of the invasion.
  • The trip took place after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a macabre tour of occupied Ukraine two days after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes related to Russia’s invasion of the country.

Putin was the first to stop in Crimea on Saturday, timed to coincide with the 9th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the region in 2014, according to The New York Times.

According to the state-sponsored Russian media outlet TASS, Putin visited Mariupol early Sunday morning as part of his first visit to the Donbas region. Mass graves have been discovered in a besieged Ukrainian city after Russian troops leveled the area and bombed a steel plant where civilians and Ukrainian defenders were hiding.

According to TASS, during Putin’s visit to the region, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin began preparing a report on restoration work in the city and its environs.

“In particular, the report concerned the construction of new residential areas, social and educational facilities, engineering infrastructure and medical centers,” the Kremlin press service told TASS.

The Russian leader’s visit to occupied Ukraine follows the International Criminal Court, a tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which issued an international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin on Friday. The ICC has accused Putin of being responsible for war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is calling for him to be brought to justice – though it is unlikely he will because Russia, like the United States, does not recognize the authority of the ICC.

ICC officials declined to answer Insider’s questions about the likelihood of Putin being tried for the war crimes he is accused of.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet with Putin during a visit to Russia starting on Monday, China’s foreign ministry said. Xi and Putin plan to discuss “deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation” between their countries, the Kremlin said in a statement Friday.

Ukrainian military leaders have hinted at the possibility of a counteroffensive in the spring, although an anonymous official told The Washington Post that any hope of a counteroffensive would depend on Western military assistance and the arrival of trained troops in the region.

The United States has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars of aid as it faces a Russian invasion, and President Joe Biden has vowed to continue sending military and humanitarian aid.

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