Inside Putin’s Surprise Tour of Mariupol ‘Crime Scene’
After a day it was accused of war crimes At the International Criminal Court, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brazen propaganda tour in the middle of the night in Mariupol drew harsh criticism from Ukraine’s leaders, who noted that “the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime.”
Russian state media picked up positive reactions to the 70-year-old dictator’s visit to the crumbling port city, showing Putin ambling with repopulated residents on his first trip to the front lines in his country’s 13-month unprovoked invasion.
Critics have accused Putin of visiting Mariupol under cover of darkness to avoid confronting the full scale of genocide in the fully occupied eastern city, where some 90% of its buildings were destroyed in the war’s first months. Ukraine estimates Killed 20,000 residents 70% of the city’s population was forced to flee amid Russia’s violent land grabs.
“The criminal always returns to the crime scene,” Mykhailo Podolyak, aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky books on Twitter.
Exiled Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko echoed his sentiments.
“He himself came to see what he did,” Boychenko said he told the BBC. “He came to see what he would be punished for.”
On the ground, Kremlin propaganda painted a much rosier picture, with Putin seen driving around the city while Russian officials were briefed on the rebuilding effort.
“Do you live here? Do you like it?” Putin was filmed asking people.
“Very much,” replied a woman, clasping her hands and thanking Putin for the “victory.” It’s a little piece of heaven we have here now.
“We need to start getting to know each other better,” Putin told a group of stunned residents. According to CNN.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khosnullin accompanied Putin on his spontaneous tour of the bombed-out former European industrial center.
“The city center has been hit hard,” Khosnulin said. “We want to finish (rebuilding) the center by the end of the year, at least the facade part. The center is very beautiful.”
The duo also talked about plans to build a new hospital to replace the Children’s and Maternity Hospital bombed While the patients and staff were inside.
“There will be an ambulance, all the modern labs will be there,” Khosnulin said, according to the report.
Putin replies: “Everything will be fine.”
Putin Challenge visit This came as his staff said the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged abduction and deportation of children and other Ukrainians to Russia was “null and void”, “outrageous and unacceptable”.
May Mariupol theater bombing Harboring families and killing hundreds was a war crime, human rights groups said.
Putin was liable to be arrested if he set foot in any of the 123 countries that signed the statute of the Hauge Tribunal.
The strongman traveled to Mariupol in the illegally annexed Donetsk region by helicopter after visiting Crimea on the ninth anniversary of Russia’s occupation of it, according to state media.
with wire
