Vladimir Putin greeted crowds of people in a rare public walkabout where he was seen kissing kids and taking selfies with so-called fans.
The Russian President flew to the city of Derbent, on the Caspian Sea, 2,000km from Moscow, to mark the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha and visit an ancient citadel and historic mosque.
"The Quran is sacred for Muslims and should be sacred for others," Putin remarked as he was gifted a copy of the Quran.
He then said "Disrespecting religions is a crime in Russia, unlike in some countries" in reference to Sweden allowing the burning of the holy text.
Another video released by state media showed the brute striding onto a city square with confidence and a huge smile on his face, as he attempted to demonstrate public support and popularity.
"Using all kinds of methods for a desperately needed reputation boost?" Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's internal ministry, wrote on Twitter, sharing footage of Putin in Dagestan.
It was a particularly remarkable scene as Putin has a reputation for keeping big distances between himself and most people he meets.
One senior security official once described him to the Guardian as "pathologically afraid for his life" and divulged that he required his staff to undergo a two-week quarantine during the pandemic.
In one clip, a girl who appears to be of school age looked desperate to speak with the evil leader and posed for a photo with him as he kissed her head.
Russian state broadcaster TASS just reported that he would “hold a meeting on tourism, meet with the head of the Republic of Dagestan Sergey Melikov and take part in a number of other events."
Some say the visit is likely part of his bid to reassert power after the failed coup on his military over the weekend.
Putin blasted organisers of the revolt and said it was the gravest threat yet to his power, as traitors who played into the hands of Ukraine’s government and its allies.
In a five-minute TV address near midnight on Monday, Putin sought to project stability.
He criticised the uprising’s perpetrators while trying not to antagonise the mercenaries and their hardline supporters.
The message Putin "meant to send out" on his visit "is clear", BBC Monitoring journalist Francis Scarr wrote on Twitter.
The videos are intended to show that "things are back to normal" and that the Russian people supported Putin's rule, he added.
