Vladimir Putin paid a surprise visit to Crimea to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s acquisition from Ukraine a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of being accountable for war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine.
The majority of the world saw Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea by Ukraine as illegal at the time.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, recently demanded that Russia leave the peninsula and the areas it has occupied since the previous year.
Putin emphasised the need of keeping Crimea under control and stated that security concerns for Crimea and Sevastopol currently take precedence.
“We will take all necessary precautions to repel any threats,”
Putin was expected to take part in the cultural and historical event remotely, according to Dmitry Peskov, the Presidential Spokesperson, but to everyone’s astonishment, he really showed up there.
According to the governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, who was imposed by Moscow, Putin flew the 1,821 kilometres (1,132 miles) to Sevastopol, where he got behind the wheel of the automobile that brought him around the city.
According to Russian official news media, Putin visited an art school and a children’s centre that are a part of a proposal to create a historical park on the site of an old Greek colony.
Putin often takes part in celebrations on March 18. He frequently went to the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow for special performances honouring this day, spoke with the audience in person, and travelled to Crimea.
Putin last made a trip to the peninsula in July 2020. In order to take part in the keel-laying ceremony for multiple navy ships, Putin visited the Kerch shipyard Zaliv. He went to the Crimean Bridge in December 2022 as it was being rebuilt following a terrorist attack.
English