After months of rarely traveling to Russia’s regions, Putin visits his fourth city in less than three weeks

Vladimir Putin has embarked on a rapid visitation spree across Russia, his fourth city stop in less than three weeks. Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, welcomed him next, where he is scheduled to convene a State Council presidium meeting focused on improving public transit. This is the fourth city Putin has visited within the past two and a half weeks, aside from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

His itinerary also includes Kazan, Irkutsk, Omsk, and Krasnoyarsk. Reports indicate that Putin’s state visits have led to a brief dip in gasoline prices in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, alongside a noticeable reduction in queues at gas stations nationwide amidst a fuel shortage. The prices later spiked upon his departure. After Ulan-Ude, Putin may proceed to Novosibirsk, where preparations for his visit include hastily repaving roads, laying sod, and repairing sidewalks and building facades.

The claim that Putin had reduced his trips to Russian regions due to an assassination threat surfaced in May, based on an intelligence report from a European country. However, the Federal Protective Service countered by strengthening security around Putin. In early June, a Russian political newsletter suggested Putin had become more visible in public, possibly to enhance his image amid falling public support. Despite this, by early June, Putin had only made two trips to St. Petersburg since January.