Putin’s appearance marked a change from his relative isolation of recent weeks,when he has been shown meeting with world leaders and his staff either at extraordinarily long tables or via videoconference.
In the wake of the invasion,the Kremlin has clamped down harder on dissent and the flow of information,arresting thousands of antiwar protesters,banning sites such as Facebook and Twitter,and instituting tough prison sentences for what is deemed to be false reporting on the war,which Moscow refers to as a “special military operation”.
The OVD-Info rights group that monitors political arrests reported that at least seven independent journalists had been detained ahead of or while covering the anniversary events in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Standing on stage in a white turtleneck and a blue down jacket,Putin spoke for about five minutes. Some people,including presenters at the event,wore T-shirts or jackets with a “Z” — a symbol seen on Russian tanks and other military vehicles in Ukraine and embraced by supporters of the war.
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Peace talks
The rally came as Vladimir Medinsky,who led Russian negotiators in several rounds of talks with Ukraine,said that the sides have moved closer to agreement on the issue of Ukraine dropping its bid to join NATO and adopting a neutral status.
“That is the issue where the parties have made their positions maximally close,” Medinsky said in remarks carried by Russian media. He added that the sides are now “halfway” on issues regarding the demilitarisation of Ukraine.
In a video addressreleased in the early hours of Saturday,Ukraine time,Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had always offered solutions for peace and wanted meaningful and honest negotiations on peace and security.
“I want everyone to hear me now,especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting,it is time to talk,” he said. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise,Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.”
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In other developments,US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke for nearly two hours in a bid by the US to deter Beijing from providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion.
Mariupol cut off from the sea as Russians roam city centre
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday AEDT that the besieged southern port city of Mariupol had lost its access to the Azov Sea,which is connected to the much larger Black Sea.
“The occupiers have partially succeeded in the Donetsk operational area - temporarily depriving Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov,” the Ukraine press release said.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces were “tightening a noose” around the city,with reports of fighting having reached streets in the centre.
Mariupol’s mayor,Vadym Boichenko,told the BBC that there was fighting in the city’s streets,even as rescuers tried to dig out those who had been trapped by the bombing of the Drama Theatre on Wednesday.
“Tanks and machine-gun battles continue,” he told the BBC. “Everybody is hiding in bunkers.”
Ludmyla Denisova,the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner,said at least 130 people had survived the theatre bombing.
“But according to our data,there are still more than 1300 people in these basements,in this bomb shelter,” Denisova told Ukrainian television. “We pray that they will all be alive,but so far there is no information about them.”
On Friday,a barrage of missiles were launched against an aircraft repair installation at an airport outside the western city of Lviv,close to the border with Poland. One person was reported killed in the Lviv attack.
Ukraine said it had shot down two of six missiles launched in the attack from the Black Sea. The early morning strike was the closest one yet to the centre of Lviv,which has become a crossroads for people fleeing from other parts of Ukraine and for others entering to deliver aid or join the fight.
Early morning barrages hit a residential building in the Podil neighborhood of Kyiv,killing at least one person,according to emergency services. Kyiv’s mayor said 19 were wounded in the shelling,just north of downtown Kyiv.
Two other people were killed when strikes hit residential and administrative buildings in the eastern city of Kramatorsk,according to the regional governor.
The eastern cities of Mikolayiv and Kramatorsk also endured powerful air strikes,with unconfirmed reports of mass fatalities.
Britain’s defence intelligence chief says Russia is shifting to a “strategy of attrition” after failing to take major cities. Lieutenant General Jim Hockenhull warned that the strategy will entail “reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower” that will worsen the humanitarian crisis.
Two others were killed when strikes hit residential and administrative buildings in the eastern city of Kramatorsk,according to the regional governor,Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Major General Oleksandr Pavlyuk,who is leading the defence of the region around Ukraine’s capital,said his forces are well-positioned to defend the city and vowed:“We will never give up. We will fight until the end. To the last breath and to the last bullet.”
The fighting has led nearly 3.3 million people to flee Ukraine,while an additional 6.5 million have left their homes for other parts of the country,according to the UN.
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