Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of Moscow’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine, in defiance of the arrest warrant issued by International Criminal Court on Friday.
During the unannounced visit to the port city of Sevastopol, Putin was accompanied by the Russia-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, and visited a children’s school and an arts center.
“Our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin knows how to surprise. In a good way,” Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram, according to Agence France-Press.
“But Vladimir Vladimirovich came in person. Himself. Behind the wheel. Because on such a historic day, the president is always with Sevastopol and the people of Sevastopol,” the Moscow-backed official said.
Several European nations marked the anniversary by blasting Russia for its illegal seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.
“Nine years after the illegal annexation of Crimea, the [United Kingdom] continues to stand with [Ukraine] against Russian aggression,” the British Embassy in Kyiv tweeted. “In Crimea, Ukrainians suffer: citizens have no freedom, civilians are detained, and children are in ‘re-education’ camps.”
Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Ministry affirmed that it does not recognize the Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory.
“We will continue our unwavering support for Ukraine,” the ministry tweeted.
The provocative trip came just a day after the the arrest warrant for Putin, a first for the court against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The court accused Putin of committing war crimes, including for the abduction of children from Ukraine, in the 13 months since Russia’s bloody invasion of its neighbor.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.
Ukraine officials cheered on the announcement, which President Volodymyr Zelensky said reflected his nation’s own investigations.
He called the warrant historic, repeating his characterization of Putin as a terrorist head of a terrorist state.”
Russia, however, quickly rejected the order, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the warrant for Putin’s arrest issued by the Netherlands-based court “null and void.” The chances that Putin will actually face trial at the ICC are low, because Moscow does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction or extradite its nationals.
The warrant also did nothing to quell the fighting between Moscow and Kyiv, with Russia continuing a barrage of attacks across the war-torn country Friday and Saturday.
Ukraine’s air force command wrote on Telegram that it shot down 11 out of 16 drones Russia sent “in the central, western and eastern regions” Friday night, whose targets included Kyiv and the western Lviv region.
Ukraine’s military wrote on Facebook early Saturday morning that in the prior 24 hours, Russia had launched 34 airstrikes, one missile strike and 57 anti-aircraft attacks. The update noted that one of attacks targeted a settlement in the Kherson region, which damaged seven homes and a kindergarten.
Separately, Turkey and the United Nations announced that the grain export deal between Ukraine and Russia that was set to expire Sunday was extended for at least 60 days, following several days of talks facilitated by the Turkish government.
The two nations clashed over how long they wanted the deal to continue, and officials have differed in their announcements for the latest extension.
Russia agreed to extend the deal for only 60 days, according to a letter from its UN representative shared by foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said a 120-day extension had been secured.
The grain deal, first signed in July following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Black Sea blockade, has allowed the distribution of over 25 million tons of food, helping to ease global food prices and stabilize the markets, according to the UN.
With Post wires
