Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a surprise public bath in Dagestan, one of Russia’s poorest regions, after his grip on power was threatened by a military uprising by Wagner’s mercenaries.

Journalist Max Seddon, editor-in-chief of The Financial Times in Moscow, wryly notes that Putin’s gesture “definitely has nothing to do” with the reception of Wagner’s mercenaries in the city of Rostov-on-Don, where they were greeted by some locals who bought them coffee and food .

Putin’s forays into the middle of the population have become extremely rare in recent years, his fear of contracting the coronavirus is well known. Added to this are concerns about her security in the context of the war in Ukraine.

One of his most recent such appearances came in March, when he visited occupied Mariupol after a stopover in Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014.

The TASS agency notes that Putin arrived in Derbent on Wednesday to participate in a “tourist meeting” with the head of the republic Serhii Melikov, as well as other events.

“There will also be a traditional exchange of views,” TASS notes regarding the meetings of the Russian president with regional leaders.

Dagestan is one of the Russian regions where protests erupted last September against Vladimir Putin’s decision to “partially mobilize” Russia.

Data collected by Russian investigative journalists show that this region of the Caucasus is one of those that recorded the highest human losses during the war in Ukraine.