Vladimir Putin made surprise visit to occupied Mariupol: NPR

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev visit the Children’s Art and Aesthetics Center, part of the Chersonesos Taurica Historical and Archaeological Park in Sevastopol, Crimea, Saturday, March 18 2023. Putin visited Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula to Ukraine.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev visit the Children’s Art and Aesthetics Center, part of the Chersonesos Taurica Historical and Archaeological Park in Sevastopol, Crimea, Saturday, March 18 2023. Putin visited Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula to Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the port city of Mariupol, Russian state news agencies reported Sunday morning, in what would mark his first trip to Ukrainian territory that Moscow has illegally annexed. in September.

Mariupol became a global symbol of defiance after Ukrainian forces, outgunned and outmanned, held out at a steel mill there for nearly three months before Moscow finally took control in May.

On Saturday, Putin traveled to Crimea, a short distance southwest of Mariupol, to mark the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula to Ukraine.