According to the Kremlin, he arrived by helicopter, talked with local people, visited places of interest and received a report on the reconstruction work of the city.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Mariupol, the port city in southeastern Ukraine devastated by bombing, the Kremlin press service reported on Sunday, quoted by Russian press agencies.
This is the first time that Putin has arrived in the city taken by Russian forces in May 2022 after months of siege. According to the Kremlin, Putin arrived in Mariupol by helicopter and took a tour of the city driving himself.
He talked with local people, visited places of interest and received a report on the reconstruction works of the devastated city, the same source said.
He then visited the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don near the Ukrainian border for a meeting with the head of the Armed Forces, Valeri Gerasimov, and several military commanders.
First visit to Crimea in two years
On Saturday, the Russian president also surprised with the first visit to the Crimean peninsula in more than two years, to mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s incorporation into Russia in what Ukraine and its allies described as an illegal annexation maneuver. .
At the beginning of March, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, also paid an official visit to Mariupol to analyze the infrastructure reconstruction work in the area.
