Putin marks victory in Crimea as clashes rage

President Vladimir Putin flew in to Crimea yesterday for the first time since it was annexed by Moscow, proclaiming as he marked the Soviet victory in the Second World War that incorporating the former Ukrainian territory had made Russia stronger.

In east Ukraine, where pro-Moscow rebels plan a referendum tomorrow to follow Crimea in breaking from Kiev, between three and 20 people were reported killed in the port of Mariupol, one of the biggest clashes yet between Ukrainian forces and separatists.

The head of Nato condemned Putin’s visit to Crimea, whose annexation has not been recognised by Western powers. He also renewed doubts over an assurance by the Kremlin leader that he had pulled back troops from the Ukrainian border.

The pro-Western government in Kiev, labelled “fascist” by Moscow, said Putin’s visit was intended to escalate the crisis.

Watching a military parade in Sevastopol on the Black Sea, Putin said: “There is a lot of work ahead but we will overcome all difficulties because we are together, which means we have become stronger.”

Earlier in the day, he had presided over the biggest Victory Day parade in Moscow for years.

The passing tanks, aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles were a reminder to the world — and Russian voters — of Putin’s determination to revive Moscow’s global power, 23 years after the Soviet collapse.

The US said the trip to Crimea was provocative, the EU said Putin should not have used the Second World War commemoration to showcase the annexation and Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the visit “inappropriate”.

Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk, in office since an uprising overthrew the Kremlin-backed elected president in Kiev in February, rejects Russian allegations that his power is the result of coup backed by neo-Nazi Ukrainian nationalists.