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Vladimir Putin, who flew to Mariupol by helicopter, drove across the metropolis and stopped to speak to locals, based on TASS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been on a working journey to Mariupol, a Ukrainian metropolis within the Donetsk area that has been occupied by Moscow forces since Could final yr.

Putin flew to Mariupol by helicopter, TASS reported on Sunday, citing the Kremlin.

Putin drove a automotive and moved by way of a number of components of town, making stops and speaking to locals, the company stated.

Reviews of the Mariupol go to got here a day after the Russian chief traveled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula to Ukraine. Russian state tv confirmed him on Saturday touring the Black Sea port metropolis of Sevastopol, accompanied by Moscow-appointed native governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.

Russia annexed Crimea to Ukraine in 2014 following a referendum that was not acknowledged by Kyiv and the worldwide neighborhood.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded that Russia withdraw from the peninsula in addition to areas it has occupied since final yr.