On a surprise trip Russian President Wladimir Putin visited the occupied Ukrainian port city of Mariupol over the weekend.

Russian state television showed footage of Putin being shown in the city on Saturday night. The President met resettled residents and was briefed on the reconstruction effort by the Deputy Prime Minister Marat Chuznullinaccording to Reuters.

According to state media, Putin visited a residential area built by the Russian military during his tour of the city and began accommodating new tenants last September.

“Do you live here? Do you like it?” Putin was seen questioning local residents.

Reuters reported that Mariupol was home to the Azovstal Steel Works, where Ukrainian militants held out for weeks in underground tunnels and bunkers before being forced into surrender.

“The city center was badly damaged,” Khusnullin said on state television, according to Reuters. “We want to finish (rebuild) the center by the end of the year, at least the part of the facade. The center is very nice.”

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Putin’s visit to Mariupol is the first he has made to Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s Donbass region since the start of the war. It’s also the closest thing he’s got to the frontline.

Putin reportedly traveled to the city by helicopter from Ukraine after visiting Crimea on the ninth anniversary of its annexation by Russia.

From Mariupol, the Russian leader traveled to Rostov in southern Russia, where state television on Sunday showed him meeting with Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, commander of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court last week issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of responsibility for war crimes in Ukraine. The court said that Putin was charged with the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied…