Kremlin shares video of Putin with a young fan, attempts to repaint Russian President as 'caring'
vladimir Putin
The Russia-Ukraine war is well into its second year and the man credited for the death and destruction is the nation's President Vladimir Putin. Amid international condemnation triggered by the conflict, on Tuesday, the Kremlin released a video that seems to be designed to portray the leader as caring and concerned.
In the video, President Putin is joined by an eight-year-old Russian girl seeking a budget grant from Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
Released in the aftermath of last month's brief armed mutiny, the video, as per Reuters, also attempts to show that Putin remains in control.
A bizarre call
The video which was released by the Kremlin shows Putin welcoming the girl, eight-year-old Raisat Akipova. It featured a bizarre call, in which the child asks the Russian finance minister for a grant for her home region of Dagestan, which is situated in Russia's North Caucasus.
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As per Reuters, initially, Anton Siluanov seemed bemused by the girl's demands and failed to respond to her greetings. However, he soon agrees to extra funding of five billion roubles for her home region in Russia's south.
"Excellent!" responded the Russian President. He then tells the girl: "We've got five billion roubles for Dagestan". Five billion roubles is around 55.6 million USD.
A similar call was placed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The video shows Putin chuckling with amusement during the conversations.
Later, the little girl holding a bouquet of flowers thanked Siluanov when prompted by the Russian president.
Reuters reports that Putin told Raisat that he had invited her and her parents to Moscow because a picture of her in tears after failing to see him on his Dagestan trip had distressed the leader.
Rebuilding trust or saving face?
The little girl's visit as per Reuters is a sequel to Putin's visit to Dagestan last week where he was seen mingling with a large crowd of people.
Kremlin has been citing this as evidence of the Russian President's "astounding" support in the nation and comes just days after a mutiny by mercenary group Wagner made the headlines. The mutiny had prompted warnings of the risk of civil war in Russia.
(With inputs from agencies)
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