On Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Crimea, Russian state television reported.
Images shown on the station Rossiya-1 showed Putin visiting an art school while on a surprise trip to the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol with Mikhail Razvozhayev.
“Our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin knows how to surprise. In a good way,” Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram. He said Putin had been expected to take part in the opening of a children’s art school by video link.
“But Vladimir Vladimirovich came in person. Himself. Behind the wheel. Because on such a historic day, the president is always with Sevastopol and the people of Sevastopol,” the Moscow-appointed official said.
