STORY: Russian President Vladimir Putin is firmly in control himself. It is supposed to be images with symbolic power that the Russian state media published on Sunday from the Russian-occupied port city of Mariupol. Putin has never been so close to the war front as he is these days. First there was the visit to Crimea on the anniversary of the annexation nine years ago and then it was on to Mariupol. The southern Ukrainian port city was extremely hotly contested at the start of the Russian invasion more than a year ago. She fell to Russia in May. It was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the war so far. You could also see a new housing estate built by the Russian military, where the Russian President was visiting a family. Mariupol is part of Donetsk – one of four regions that Russia declared Russian territory in September. The government in Kiev and its allies, on the other hand, speak of an illegal annexation and a war of aggression by Russia. The leadership in Moscow describes the procedure as a special operation with the aim of destroying military capacities in the neighboring ex-Soviet republic and taking action against nationalists classified as dangerous.