Putin made a surprise visit to fortified Crimea on the anniversary of its annexation

President of Russia Vladimir Putinvisited this Saturday out of the blue Crimea in it 9th anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula, which Moscow is establishing with forced marches out of fear that the fighting in the east and south of Ukraine will not spread to that territory that Kiev intends to regain.

The Kremlin kept the president’s trip secret until the last moment, and even diverted attention: the spokesman of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, announced that this Saturday Putin only plans to participate via video conference at the inauguration of the cultural center.

The Russian president visited the Korsun art school and children’s center in Khersones, outside the port of Sevastopol, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

According to the governor of Sevastopol, Mihailo Razvožaev, everything was ready for the video conference, but finally the president arrived in person. “By car. He was the one behind the wheel. on this historic day the president is always with Sevastopol and people from Sevastopol. Our country has an incredible leader“, the governor wrote on his Telegram channel.

This Thursday, the leader of Crimea, Sergej Axiónov, confirmed that after the fortification works carried out on the peninsula, Ukraine will not be able to take over its territory. “They [los ucranianos] they understand that they have no chance of taking Crimea after the measures implemented by the president [Putin]”, said Axiónov in statements for local television.

The leader of Crimea emphasized that the inhabitants of the peninsula understand the need to carry out these works and do not complain about the inconvenience they may bring.

“Of course we cannot give details. The only thing I can say is that the president’s orders will be carried out and Crimeans can be sure that the peninsula has a reliable defense,” said the Izvestia newspaper in an interview on the anniversary of the annexation. Aksionov expressed his belief that fortifications would not be necessary, but added: “Better prevent rather than cure”.

Allegedly, the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which carried out on Friday, is of the same opinion mine laying exercises along the coast of Crimea. According to a statement from the fleet, the Ingushetia ship laid training mines, without explosive charges, on “the routes of possible actions of enemy forces near the coast of the Crimean peninsula.”

In addition to Ingushetia, four other ships of the Black Sea Fleet participated.

On land, in eastern Ukraine, the fighting is not losing its intensity.

Offensive march

As the Ukrainian military command reported this Saturday, Russian troops are trying to surround Avdiivka and Mariinka, satellite cities of Donetsk, the capital of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of the same name.

“Last day, the enemy tried to attack the positions [ucranianas] in the area of ​​Avdiivka and Mariinka, but without success. Yesterday [viernes] we lost about two companies of soldiers, killed and wounded,” military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkovsky said on Ukrainian national television’s marathon.

He emphasized that the main goal of the Russian forces at the moment is to surround Avdiyevka, which is located only 5 kilometers from the northern suburbs of Donetsk.

The head of Ukraine’s Donetsk region military administration, Pavló Kyrylenko, said the levels of destruction in the area near the front were “unbelievable”.

“If we talk about Avdiivka, the city was almost completely destroyed. Our fortress city of Bakhmut is more than 80% destroyed,” he added.

According to Kyrylenko, given the impossibility of capturing cities near the front line, Russian forces are using “scorched earth” tactics and using all kinds of weapons to destroy all infrastructure.