Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation to Russia.
Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea on March 18 on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation to Russia. This trip of Mr. Putin was seen as a surprise and was not announced to the media in advance.
In Crimea, President Putin was welcomed by Governor Sevastopol and taken to visit a newly established children’s center and an art school.
President Putin makes a surprise visit to the Crimean peninsula (Video: Twitter).
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 after a referendum. After annexing Crimea, Russia invested in building infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and deployed a lot of military equipment here, turning Crimea into a military logistics center for its forces. Russia.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly vowed to take back the strategic Crimea region in the Black Sea. In a statement at the end of 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that the conflict that started in Crimea will also end in Crimea, implying that Kiev will by all means regain control of the peninsula from Russia.
In response to the above statements of Ukrainian officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 17 issued a strong statement on the security of the Crimean peninsula. According to Putin, security is currently a top priority for Crimea and Sevastopol. The Russian president also affirmed that the Russian government will make every effort to ensure the security as well as the economic and social development of the peninsula.
Earlier, the Defense Intelligence Service of the Ukrainian army confirmed that the Russian military is urgently strengthening the defenses in the Crimea region and surrounding areas to protect the peninsula from Kiev’s attacks.
“The Intelligence Service is still closely monitoring the enemy’s movements in the temporarily occupied Crimea area. The Russians are actively preparing for defensive operations in the peninsula,” said Vadym Skibitskyi, representative of the Intelligence Service. Ukrainian defense newspaper said.
According to Skibitskyi, the infrastructure in Crimea is being put in a state of high combat readiness. A large force of soldiers and military equipment was also sent to reinforce the defense line on the peninsula. Of these, Skibitskyi revealed that Russia is concentrating about 90 fighter jets and 60 attack helicopters in Crimea. In the southern cities, many defensive lines were also erected as a front for Crimea.