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Russian President Putin visited occupied Ukrainian territory for the first time since the outbreak of the war. After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the illegal relocation of children from occupied Ukraine to Russia, Russia argued that the issuance of the arrest warrant was legally invalid.

Junmo Moon is a reporter.

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President
Putin drives around occupied Mariupol in southern Ukraine.

The Kremlin spokesman's office said that President Putin arrived in Mariupol by helicopter that day (18th).

This is the first time President Putin has personally visited occupied Ukraine since the outbreak of the war.

Mariupol was the site of some of the fiercest Russian air strikes in southern Ukraine early in the war.

More than 2,9 people were killed in the Russian occupation.

In particular, many children were forcibly displaced from Mariupol to mainland Russia, which led the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Putin's alleged war crimes.

But just one day after the arrest warrant was issued, President Putin went to the scene of a war crime that was horrific as he saw.

[CNN: Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be trying to show off his control of the occupied territories and to show that he is rightfully Russian territory by showing him talking with Mariupol officials about rebuilding the region.]

Prior to his visit to Mariupol, President Putin made an unannounced visit to a port city on the Krm Peninsula on the ninth anniversary of the forced annexation of the Krm Peninsula, and he also visited the headquarters overseeing the war in Ukraine to chair a meeting.

Putin's public move, which came shortly after the issuance of the arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, is an observation that both a response to international criticism and a mockery.

(Video editing by Kim Yoon-sung)