Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the city of Mariupol during his first trip to Donbass. According to the press service of the President of Russia, the President arrived by helicopter in the destroyed city in the south of Donetsk region, on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Mariupol was besieged by Kremlin forces for weeks last year, causing a humanitarian disaster. The city fell to Russia in May, and Ukrainian authorities put the death toll in the thousands. There, corpses were found in individual or collective graves improvised in yards, streets and parks, houses and apartments. As of June, the United Nations had verified 1,348 civilian deaths in direct hostilities, but said the actual number was likely “thousands higher.” The true extent of the loss of life here will only be known with time.
During the visit, Putin toured different parts of the city by car, which he drove himself, accompanied by Vice Prime Minister Marat Khusnulin. A short time later, the Russian president announced that Putin had met with the commander of the military campaign in Ukraine in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia.
This Saturday, Putin made a surprise visit to the Crimean peninsula on the ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation. The President visited the Korsun Art School and Children’s Center in Khersones, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, outside the port of Sevastopol.
Source: El Diario
