#Russia: Putin made unannounced visits to Crimea and Mariupol. The ICC court order on Putin's name cannot be the reason, because such visits by Putin require meticulous preparation for security reasons. Why then? Some reflections:

1) It is more likely that the reasons are linked to a clear intention to target the national public and the international positioning; 2) The Kremlin is not advancing as it would like on the battlefield while registering massive human losses. While in Mariupol,

Putin tries to signal to the audience that it is “worth” fighting in Ukraine to fuel pro-war state propaganda and growing expectations about new military victories; 3) Stepping on the soil of Crimea and Mariupol is also a political statement intended to reiterate that

these Ukrainian territories are under Russian control. This is a way to “legitimize” Russia's territorial claim to Ukrainian lands before the national audience; 3) Putin visited the Ukrainian territories under Russian military occupation before his meeting with Chinese

leader Xi. This decision cannot be accidental at all. By meeting Putin who returned from Crimea and Mariupol, Xi will indirectly play the role of an external validator of Russia's military occupation of the Ukrainian territories.

Putin/Russia urgently needs such external legitimation in order to build bridges with the Global South against Western sanctions and isolation, which are causing socio-economic pain with potential political destabilization in a short to medium term.