He said Mr Putin is trying to "show a positive image of himself" like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Its population is now just a tenth of what it was before the conflict, Mr Riabchyn says - a claim which Sky News cannot independently verify. Mariupol was razed to the ground when it was captured by Russia in the early days of the war. He added that it was "interesting" Mr Putin had chosen to visit a new neighbourhood - built by the Russian military - under the cover of darkness.Ī camera would "not be able to hide the enormous destruction" behind the building in the daylight, said Mr Riabchynl. Mr Putin's night-time tour of the port city in eastern Ukraine marked his first visit to occupied territory in the Donbas region since his invasion of Ukraine.īut Mr Riabchyn insists "nobody will remember" the occasion. Mr Riabchyn said it was "painful" to see the Russian leader in Mariupol but that he is "trying to be optimistic". "He came to see and say goodbye because we do believe in our spring counteroffensive that we are able to kick out Russia from Ukrainian territory," he said. Oleksii Riabchyn, adviser to the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, told Sky News that the Russian leader visited the occupied city "for the first and last time".
A Ukrainian government official has spoken of his determination to never see Vladimir Putin in Mariupol again.
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