Russia Says Trip Shows It's In Mariupol To Stay

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has visited Mariupol in his first trip to Ukrainian territory that Moscow illegally annexed in September.

Russian state news agencies reported yesterday that he had been in the port city, which became a worldwide symbol of defiance after outgunned and out-manned Ukrainian forces held out in a steel mill there for nearly three months before Moscow finally took control of it in May.

On Saturday, Mr Putin travelled to Crimea, a short distance southwest of Mariupol, to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's annexation from Ukraine.