Putin receives rockstar welcome in Dagestan after quelled mutiny

President Vladimir Putin has received a rockstar welcome in Russia’s Dagestan region that some are interpreting as the 70-year-old leader’s attempt to boost his popularity days after quelling an armed insurrection.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that footage, which could not be verified, apparently showing Putin greeting adoring supporters in Derbent proved that he has “astounding” support.President Vladimir Putin has received a rockstar welcome in Russia’s Dagestan region that some are interpreting as the 70-year-old leader’s attempt to boost his popularity days after quelling an armed insurrection.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that footage, which could not be verified, apparently showing Putin greeting adoring supporters in Derbent proved that he has “astounding” support.He said Putin “could not refuse” to greet the crowd.

Surrounded by men in suits and a cameraman, the Russian leader reached out over a barrier to shake people’s hands.

Then, with his jacket off, he waved goodbye and blew a kiss to the crowd, before getting in a car.“The data we have show the prevailing and dominating support of the president and the special military operation,” Peskov said on Thursday, using Moscow’s official term for the conflict in Ukraine.Putin has insisted that the mutineers did not galvanise support during their rebellion.
He initially condemned the rebelling Wagner fighters as traitors and promised tough punishment, but after the mutiny was halted, Putin allowed the fighters to go back to their homes, join the regular army or go into exile in Belarus.“I did not doubt the reaction in Dagestan and in all of the country,” Putin said as he met Sergei Melikov, the head of the Caucasus region, according to an extract of the meeting aired on Russian television.

Putin was replying to Melikov who had said that “there was not a single person in Dagestan who did not support decisions made by the leaders of the Russian Federation” over the aborted rebellion.