politics
Russian President Appears in Kazan After Reduced Public Schedule
The Russian president greeted a crowd outside a church in Kazan this week, his first street encounter in nearly a year. Security personnel were recorded referring to the assembled people as extras before the walkabout.
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The Russian president stepped out of a church in Kazan this week to greet a small group of people on the street. The appearance marked his first such encounter in nearly a year and his first visit to a region outside Moscow or St. Petersburg in seven months.
A camera crew recorded one of his bodyguards instructing colleagues to prepare the crowd, using the Russian word for background actors hired for film scenes.
Officials have tightened security around the president in recent months. Visits have been reduced and checks on people meeting him in person have increased, according to a person close to European intelligence services. The president and his family have stopped using residences in the Moscow region and in north-western Valdai.
He has spent several weeks working from bunkers, including one in the Krasnodar area in southern Russia, while state media have used recorded footage.
The president appeared at the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow earlier this year. That event lasted slightly more than 30 minutes. Data compiled by an independent journalist showed the president appeared in public 25 percent less often from January to March than during the same period the previous year.
