6 a.m.: Putin visited Mariupol after Crimea
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol, a Ukrainian city devastated by shelling, the Kremlin's press service said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
This is the Russian leader's first trip to this Ukrainian port city besieged for months and taken by the Russian army in May 2022. Vladimir Putin already made a surprise visit on Saturday to Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, on the 9th anniversary of the annexation.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin went to Mariupol by helicopter and took a tour of the city, himself driving a car.
He spoke with local residents, visited places of interest and was presented with a report on the reconstruction work of the devastated city, according to the same source.
0:32: ICC arrest warrant against Putin, an "extremely important" decision for Paris
The issuance Friday by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine is an "extremely important" decision, said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in an interview to be published Sunday.
"This decision is extremely important because it means that anyone responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity will be held accountable, regardless of their status or rank," she said in an interview with the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
"From now on, no link in the chain can think that he will escape justice and this should lead many to think," she continues, "so it is a decision that can change the course of events."
The decision of the ICC, which sits in The Hague, concerns the "deportation" of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia since the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine a year ago, which constitutes a war crime.
With AFP and Reuters
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