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- A defiant Putin has begun a tour of occupied areas of Ukraine, stopping in Crimea and Mariupol.
- The Russian chief visited besieged areas that have confronted widespread casualties because the invasion started.
- The journey comes after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for struggle crimes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun a macabre tour of occupied Ukraine, two days after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for struggle crimes associated to Russia’s invasion of the country.
Putin stopped first in Crimea on Saturday, The New York Times reported, with the go to timed to align with the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the area in 2014.
According to Russian state-sponsored media outlet Tass, Putin then visited Mariupol early Sunday in his first-ever go to to the Donbas area. Mass graves have been found in the besieged Ukrainian metropolis, after Russian forces leveled the area and bombed a metal plant the place civilians and Ukrainian defenders had been hiding.
During Putin’s go to to the area, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin started making a report about reconstruction efforts in the town and its outskirts, Tass reported.
“In particular, the report concerned the construction of new residential districts, social and educational facilities, utility infrastructure and medical centers,” Tass reported the Kremlin press service said.
The Russian chief’s go to to occupied Ukraine comes on the heels of the International Criminal Court, a tribunal based mostly in The Hague, Netherlands, issuing a global arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin on Friday. The ICC accused Putin of being chargeable for struggle crimes dedicated throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is looking for him to face trial — although it’s unlikely he’ll achieve this, as Russia, like the US, doesn’t acknowledge the authority of the ICC.
Representatives for the ICC declined to reply Insider’s questions relating to the probability Putin will face a trial for the struggle crimes he’s accused of.
Chinese chief Xi Jinping is ready to fulfill with Putin throughout a go to to Russia starting Monday, based on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Xi and Putin plan to debate “deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation” between their nations, the Kremlin said in a Friday assertion.
Ukrainian navy leaders have hinted at the opportunity of a springtime counteroffensive, although an anonymous official told The Washington Post that each one hope for a counterattack will depend on Western navy help and skilled troops arriving in the area.
The United States has provided billions of {dollars} of help to Ukraine because it faces the Russian invasion, with President Joe Biden promising to proceed sending navy and humanitarian help.
