Ukraine live briefing: Putin visits Mariupol in show of bravado; Germany says it would arrest him
German authorities will arrest Putin if he sets foot in their country, in accordance with the ICC warrant, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told the Bild newspaper. Officials in Moscow described the warrant as unlawful and said they were investigating the German minister’s statement, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. It is highly unlikely that Putin would travel to any of the 123 nations, including Germany, that recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Key developments
- Putin’s itinerary in Mariupol was largely spontaneous, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Sunday. The Russian leader visited an apartment complex, spoke to residents about their concerns and drove a car around the city, Peskov said. “We won’t bother you, please excuse us for dropping by so unexpectedly,” Putin told the inhabitants of a three-bedroom Mariupol apartment after appearing with television cameras, according to state TV.
- Russia’s president traveled to the city in Donetsk by helicopter, according to RIA Novosti — traveling through its streets under cover of nightfall. It was Putin’s first visit to the eastern Donbas region, according to Tass. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally claimed to have annexed in September.
- Ukrainian officials criticized Putin’s visit as a carefully orchestrated stunt, undertaken in darkness to minimize the damage his forces had wreaked on the city during a months-long siege. The Russian leader traveled at night “as befits a thief,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted. “The criminal always returns to the crime scene,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said of the visit.
- Putin also visited the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the Kremlin said in a statement, saying the Saturday trip coincided with the ninth anniversary of Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine. Sevastopol’s Moscow-backed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Telegram that Putin toured an art school and a children’s center.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to begin a state visit Monday to Moscow, where he will meet with Putin in Beijing’s strongest show of support since the war began. The Kremlin said the two will discuss “deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation.” Beijing, which insists it is neutral in the conflict and has sought to portray itself as a potential mediator, said Xi will promote peace talks.
Battleground updates
- Russian forces sent 16 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukrainian facilities around Kyiv and western parts of the country overnight on Saturday, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat. Ukrainian forces struck down 11 of the 16 drones, he added, despite poor nighttime visibility. The Washington Post could not verify his claims.
- Ukrainian forces defended positions along multiple fronts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to a daily update posted Sunday by the Ukrainian army. “Bakhmut remains the epicenter of the fighting,” Kyiv military officials said. For months, Russian forces have laid siege to the city, where Ukraine’s army said Sunday its defenders had repelled attacks in the north.
- The decision by Russian-backed officials to designate Melitopol the regional capital of occupied Zaporizhzhia this month suggests Moscow does not expect its troops to advance far soon, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday. “The quiet declaration of an alternative capital is likely tacit acknowledgement within the Russian system that its forces are highly unlikely to seize previously planned major objectives in the near future,” officials said.
Global impact
- A group of European Union countries will sign an agreement Monday to buy artillery rounds for Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing an unidentified E.U. official. The pact aims to quickly provide Ukraine with more of the 155mm shells it has said are a vital need, as it burns through rounds in a war of attrition.
- A Black Sea grain deal between Russia and Ukraine was extended on Saturday, although the two parties gave differing accounts for how long it would last: 60 or 120 days, respectively. Aid groups say the deal is essential to help avert a food crisis in parts of the Middle East and Africa. “It is concerning that the deal was possibly extended for only 60 days, rather than the previously agreed 120-day time frame,” said Harpinder Collacott, executive director for Europe of the nongovernmental aid organization Mercy Corps. “But any extension of the grain deal is nothing short of necessary.”
- Ukraine issued sanctions on more than 400 individuals and companies, including prominent Iranians and Syrians accused of aiding in “terror,” Zelensky said Saturday. Most of the sanctions are on Russians, he added. The sanctions include the freezing of assets held in Ukraine, restrictions on trade, the suspension of economic and financial obligations, and the revocation of Ukrainian state awards, Tass reported.
From our correspondents
Russian conscripts plead for Putin’s intervention in ‘senseless assaults’: A flood of videos have appeared on Russian Telegram channels showing Russian conscripts appealing for better equipment before being sent to fight on the front lines. Scores of soldiers say they are being forced to storm Ukrainian positions without sufficient training, ammunition, or weapons, Francesca Ebel writes.
Siobhán O’Grady and Kamila Hrabchuk in Kyiv contributed to this report.
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