Russian President Vladimir Putin visited occupied Mariupol on March 19, likely to project the image of invulnerability and to continue efforts to portray himself as an involved wartime leader, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its reporty for March 19.

“The Kremlin likely framed Putin’s first visit to occupied Ukraine outside of Crimea as a spontaneous jaunt in order to portray Putin as an invincible wartime leader who can visit the zone of hostilities without concern. Putin likely chose to visit Mariupol because it is a city seized since May 2022 that is far away from the frontline, where Russian forces and occupation officials have already instituted stringent security measures,” the analysts note.

The ISW also believes that the visit could be a response to the warrant of the International Criminal Court for Putin's arrest for participation in war crimes related to the deportation of Ukrainian children, at least 1,000 of whom were taken out of Mariupol alone.

“Putin’s Mariupol visit likely also aimed to assuage a longstanding and pervasive fear in the nationalist space about a prospective Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine … The Russian occupation administration declaring Melitopol rather than Zaporizhia city as the capital of occupied Zaporizhia region also likely reflects a desire to ease the palpable fear in the nationalist and domestic information space by portraying Russian occupation as long-term and certain,” the report reads.