Russia’s Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol after Crimea: Kremlin

MOSCOW, March 19: President Vladimir Putin has toured the city of Mariupol, Russian state news reported Sunday, almost one year after Moscow claimed to have captured the strategic port city.This is the Russian leader’s first trip to the Donbas region since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in February last year.Putin flew to Mariupol by helicopter before driving a car around the city, Tass news agency reported, citing the Kremlin.

The announcement of Putin’s visit to Mariupol comes after his surprise stop in Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation. In Mariupol, he visited different sites, spoke with residents, and was presented with a report on the reconstruction work of the city, according to state-run media.Russia launched a scorched-earth campaign against Mariupol at the start of its offensive last year, destroying the Azovstal steel works, which was the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the city.