Putin’s trip to Donbass was 'spontaneous’ – Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets locals in the city of Mariupol.
©AFP/VGTRK

Russian President Vladimir Putin's surprise visit to the Donbass region was largely “spontaneous” and effectively turned into a full-fledged “working trip,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed on Sunday.

The overnight trip was the first time Putin has visited Donbass since it broke away from Ukraine in 2014. it was eventually incorporated into Russia following referendums last year.

During Putin's stay in the city of Mariupol, he met locals and visited flats in a newly constructed residential building. The city was the scene of intense fighting early in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and ended up being heavily damaged in the process.

“Initially, the plan was only to visit this residential complex, and, of course, neither meeting the citizens, nor paying them a visit [in their homes] was planned. It was all entirely spontaneous,” Peskov told reporters.

The visit turned into a “full-fledged working trip” for the president, Peskov continued, as Putin was briefed by Deputy PM Marat Khusnullin, who accompanied him during the visit, on the restoration process ongoing in the city. In particular, the Russian leader was told about “the development of the urban economy, roads, the restoration of destroyed buildings, how many people are working, how working conditions are provided, how building materials are delivered,” the spokesman explained.

After his Mariupol visit, Putin proceeded to the city of Rostov-on-Don, where he met with Russia’s top military brass at a command-and-control center in charge of the military operation in Ukraine.

The visit to the command post had not been planned in advance either, Peskov said, adding that the president’s arrival was not an issue given that the facility operates around the clock.

“Neither the presidential administration, nor the Ministry of Defense planned it in advance,” the spokesman stated. During the trip, Putin “heard reports” from a number of top military commanders, including from the chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and also gave his own “assessments of the situation,” Peskov added.

Putin on Ukrainian troops’ actions in Mariupol: "That's not the way normal people do it"

Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the actions of the Ukrainian troops, which mined medical facilities in Mariupol, saying that it is "not the way normal people do it."

Russian President visited the city together with Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, inspecting new residential quarters among other things. Deputy PM said that he visited the hospital right after the city’s liberation and witnessed with his own eyes that refugees lived, patients remained and surgeries were performed in adjacent buildings. "All medical equipment was mined," he noted.

"That's not the way normal people do it," Putin said.

Considerable efforts on the city’s reconstruction are underway now. Presenting new residential quarters to Putin, Khusnullin stressed that people already live in new finished flats, with social infrastructure being developed, roads being constructed and repaired.