Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to the occupied port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, which Moscow illegally annexed in September. His visit came after he visited Crimea to mark the anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine. Putin was shown chatting with local residents in Mariupol, visiting an art school, and a children’s center in Crimea. These visits were a show of defiance as two days earlier, a court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges. Putin has not commented on the arrest warrant, and the Kremlin has rejected the move by the International Criminal Court. Putin also met with Russian military leaders and troops at a command post in Rostov-on-Don city.

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