after Crimea, Vladimir Putin went to Mariupol

Published on : 03/19/2023 – 06:57

• 6 a.m.: Putin travels to Mariupol, after Crimea

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol, a Ukrainian city devastated by the bombardments, indicated the press service of the Kremlin, quoted by the Russian press agencies.

This is the Russian leader’s first trip to this Ukrainian port city besieged for months and taken by the Russian army in May 2022. Vladimir Putin already made a surprise visit to Crimea on Saturday, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the annexation.

According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin flew to Mariupol by helicopter and toured the city, driving a car himself.

He spoke with local residents, visited places of interest and was presented with a report on the reconstruction works of this devastated city, according to the same source.

• 12:32 a.m .: the ICC arrest warrant against Putin, an “extremely important” decision for Paris

Friday’s issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine is an “extremely important” decision, says French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in an interview to be published on Sunday. .

“This decision is extremely important because it means that anyone responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity will have to be held accountable, regardless of their status or rank,” said the head of French diplomacy in an interview with Le Journal Sunday, a weekly.

“No link in the chain can now think that they will escape justice and this should lead many to reflect”, she continues, “so it is a decision which can change the course of events”.

The decision by the ICC, which sits in The Hague, concerns the “deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the conflict with Ukraine a year ago, which constitutes a war crime.

With AFP and Reuters