MOSCOW – Putting his personal seal on the annexation of Crimea, President Vladimir Putin of Russia arrived in the naval port of Sevastopol on Friday, where he used the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany to assert Moscow had the right to take over the Black Sea peninsula.
Over the past decade, Putin has gradually turned Victory Day into a celebration of resurgent Russian power and nationalism. The visit to Sevastopol, in southwestern Crimea, the historical home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was a potent manifestation of his goal of reviving Russia as a global power.
The West reacted to the annexation in March with sanctions against Putin’s closest circle of advisers and against a few significant companies. By going to Sevastopol, the Russian president was effectively telling Western leaders that Moscow would do as it pleased.
Putin’s visit, confirmed by the Russian state-run news agency Interfax, was the first by the president since Russia annexed the territory. Sevastopol on Friday was celebrating the 70th anniversary of its liberation from a bloody Nazi occupation, while Russia is celebrating Victory Day, the 69th anniversary of vanquishing Hitler. Both anniversaries fall on May 9.
Putin’s visit came just hours after a thundering Victory Day parade.
In the parade, the tribute to the annexation of Crimea was not subtle, as the first vehicles to enter the square behind row after row of tightly choreographed marching soldiers made clear. The first vehicle, an armored personnel carrier from a Black Sea Marines brigade, flew a Crimean flag.
In eastern Ukraine, Victory Day celebrations were underway in the eastern city of Donetsk, a provincial capital that has fallen largely under the control of pro-Russian separatists. Posters went up around the city showing red flags and Soviet military medals and praising “the heroes of Donbass,” as the region is known.
Also Friday, Ukrainian security forces wielding rocket-propelled grenades attacked a police station in Mariupol, reducing the building to smoldering rubble and killing at least seven people, according to local residents who said they had seen the assault.
The attack signaled what appeared to be a major escalation in the interim government’s fight with pro-Russian militants in southeastern Ukraine, and it came two days after Putin urged the separatists delay a referendum scheduled for Sunday and that all sides settle their differences through dialogue.
