Putin mobbed by supporters in bizarre public appearance

Vladimir Putin made a rare public appearance in Russia Wednesday, where the typically guarded leader smiled, shook hands and posed for selfies with throngs of his adoring supporters — just days after the weekend’s botched armed mutiny.

Russia’s state TV showed a clip of Putin, dressed in a dark suit and tie, being mobbed by a crowd of people during his visit Wednesday to the city of Derbent in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan on the Caspian Sea.

“We are happy to see you!” one woman exclaims above deafening cheers as Putin shakes hands with a raucous group of very enthusiastic well-wishers gathered next to a fountain.

He is seen in the recording petting and kissing the heads of two girls, one of whom then wraps her arm around the president’s neck and pleads with him: “Please, I’m begging you, can I take a picture with you?”

The girl urges her mom standing nearby to snap the photo, and then appears to squeal in delight.

Another supporter is heard wishing the 70-year-old Kremlin strongman “good health and to live to 100 years old.”

The bizarre public walkabout was out of character for the usually standoffish Putin, who has been described in media reports as something of a germaphobe.

Putin ostensibly traveled to Dagestan on the Islamic holiday of Eid-al-Adha to boost tourism in the region — but it has been widely viewed as an attempt to put on display his popularity within Russia following the Wagner mercenary group’s failed uprising.

The short-lived rebellion, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private army, posed the most serious threat to Putin’s iron grip on power in more than 20 years.

Prigozhin went into exile in Belarus Tuesday, according to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, after Russia said he wouldn’t face criminal charges for the mutiny.