Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mariupol by helicopter. This was reported by the Kremlin’s press service.
According to representatives of the president, he arrived in the city that night. After the landing, Putin “driven through the areas, inspected several objects and talked to local residents,” TASS reported.
According to RIA Novosti, the President met with “residents of Mariupol who bought new apartments”. In video footage taken from the scene in the Nevsky micro-region, Putin can be seen talking to a few cheerful people. He asked if they liked “here”.
One of the women told Putin, “This is our little piece of heaven,” and expressed hope that the “slice of heaven” would expand. She admitted that she “doesn’t believe” she’ll be getting an apartment this year.
Another old man told the president that he was “very pleased to see him here.” According to the Kremlin, Putin personally inspected one of the apartments – he was “invited” there by the tenants.
Vladimir Putin also met with Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who is responsible for construction and restoration works in the city, which was destroyed by military operations. The official reported the progress of the business to the head of state during a trip by car.
“The issue was especially concerned with the construction of new settlements, social and educational facilities, housing and communal services infrastructure, health institutions,” the Kremlin press service said.
Khusnullin also showed Putin the building of the Philharmonic. He noted that the authorities of the Russian Federation expect to fully complete the restoration of the “facade part” of the Mariupol center by the end of 2023.
“The center is very bad, there are monuments in the middle of the buildings. We thought for a long time – not to destroy, but to destroy. I decided to save, did the whole design and guessed the documents. We want to finish the middle part, at least the front part, by the end of the year.”
said the deputy prime minister.
Putin also reacted to Khusnullin’s words about the mining of hospitals by the Ukrainian army and the bombing of housing infrastructure from military equipment. “Well, these are Nazis. Normal people don’t do that,” he said.
Also, Marat Khusnullin told Putin that public transport was launched in the city with 110 buses running on the routes. A tram service is scheduled to open by the summer. He also said about the airport – by 2025 it is planned to make it civil and international, now it is used only by the military.
“People started coming back. Seeing the restoration going on, people started returning actively. Population growth,” said Khusnullin.
The President, accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister, toured the newly built housing complex and the playground. The Kremlin press service also reported that Putin toured the Sea of Azov coastline near the Mariupol yacht club and visited several “memorable places” in the city.
From there, the head of the Russian Federation went to Rostov-on-Don, where he held a meeting with the army at the command post.
On March 19, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin plans to give instructions to solve the problems that Mariupol residents told him about.
“Residents of Mariupol raised questions about the delay in paying salaries, the registration of Russian citizenship and the registration of Russian passports. “The president will give instructions to deal with the situation,” a Kremlin spokesman said.
Peskov also explained that Putin’s trip to Mariupol was “spontaneous”.
He noted that it was not actually a convoy and that the president followed all the rules of the road while driving. Overall, it was a full-scale study trip, the press secretary summed up.
Peskov said that initially the presidential office planned only to visit the new residential complex in Mariupol, but “neither communication with citizens, nor going to visit – this is not planned.”
“When Putin arrived at NWO headquarters, this trip was also unplanned. Not through the administration, not through the special services, or through the Department of Defense. They work around the clock at headquarters, passing reports, and the president stopped by just in time for a full reporting session,” he said.
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.