Putin pays visit to Crimea on anniversary of Russia’s annexation of peninsula

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Crimea, Vesti Crimea reports. Russia annexed the peninsula nine years ago.

Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev greeted Putin and showed him around a children’s art school and the Tauric Chersonese museum preserve.

The footage showing Putin in Crimea was posted by Ivan Esin, a member of Russia’s Civic Chamber.

“Our president knows how to surprise. […] Everything was ready for a video conference call and a report was to be presented to him by a special communications channel. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin just arrived here. Himself. He drove here. Because on this historic day the president is always with Sevastopol and its residents,” Razvozhaev wrote online.

RBC notes that it is Putin’s first Crimea visit since November 2021, excluding the time when the Russian leader drove across the Crimean Bridge last December.