Putin heckled during surprise Mariupol, Ukraine trip: 'It’s all lies, it’s all just for show!'
Russian leader visited southeastern Ukraine city before meeting with military officials
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russian President Vladimir Putin has been caught on video being heckled by a mystery woman during a surprise trip over the weekend to the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, Ukraine, reports say.
The incident – which was broadcast by Russian state television – happened as Putin was filmed chatting with purported residents outside what appeared to be a freshly-built apartment complex in the besieged Ukrainian city.
"It’s all lies, it’s all just for show!" a woman’s voice could be heard yelling in the background, according to the BBC.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The person who yelled could not be seen in the footage. Right after the outburst, men standing beside Putin could be seen looking around.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with local residents during his visit to Mariupol, Ukraine, over the weekend. A woman in this area was heard on video heckling Putin over the visit. (AP)
Putin arrived in Mariupol late Saturday after visiting Crimea, southwest of Mariupol, to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During his time there, Putin visited "memorial sites," a concert hall and the city’s coastline, the Associated Press reported, citing Russian media.
"People have started to return. When they saw that reconstruction is underway, people started actively returning," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who was in Mariupol with Putin, told state television.
Following his trip to Mariupol, Putin met with Russian military leaders and troops at a command post in Rostov-on-Don, a southern Russian city about 112 miles farther east, and conferred with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who is in charge of the Russian military operations in Ukraine. Peskov said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PUTIN RIPS WEST AS TRYING TO STIFLE RUSSIA, CHINA’S ‘DEVELOPMENT’
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin during a visit to Mariupol, Ukraine. (Russian Presidential Press Office/AP)
The day before Putin’s trip to Ukraine, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader over his alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Mykhailo Podolyak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that with Putin’s trip to Ukraine, "The criminal is always drawn to the crime scene."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"While the countries of the civilized world are announcing the arrest of the ‘war director’ in the event of crossing the border, the organizer of the murders of thousands of Mariupol families came to admire the ruins of the city and mass graves," he said.
Putin is back in Moscow Monday and is meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin drive a car during their visit to Mariupol over the weekend. (AP)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prior to that sit-down, Putin ripped the West over its involvement in the Ukraine war.
"The crisis in Ukraine, which was provoked and is being diligently fueled by the West, is the most striking, yet not the only, manifestation of its desire to retain its international dominance and preserve the unipolar world order," Putin said in an article published late Sunday night in the China Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.