Vladimir Putin Dives Off The Coast Of Annexed Crimea In A Mini Submarine To Explore A Shipwreck

Russian President Vladimir Putin has burnished his action man image by diving down in a mini-submarine to explore a shipwreck off the coast of the Crimea peninsula that Moscow seized from Ukraine last year.

Reuters

Putin - wearing a beige pantsuit - plunged down to a depth of 83 metres seated alongside the pilot in the glass-bubble cabin of the Dutch-made vessel on Tuesday.

83 metres is a pretty substantial depth,¡± Putin told journalists in televised comments after the dive. ¡°It was interesting.¡±

The Kremlin strongman went underwater to view the Byzantine-era wreckage in the Black Sea off Crimea that included a trove of 10th century pottery.

Remains were discovered earlier this year

The remains were discovered off the coast of Sevastopol by Russian divers earlier this year.

¡°It is a galleon that was transporting civilian cargo through the bay of Balaclava,¡± Putin said.

¡°It is still to be investigated by experts. I have to say that there are not that many similar remains like this in the north of the Black Sea.¡±

Putin has become known for his eye-catching stunts during his fifteen years in charge of Russia, that have included flying with cranes, riding topless on horseback and darting an endangered tiger.

Not his first such dive

In 2009 he dove down around 1,400 metres to the bottom of the world¡¯s deepest lake Baikal in another mini-submarine.

Putin also hopped into another miniature submersible in 2013 to take in a 19th century naval frigate shipwreck on the bed of the Baltic Sea.

All for popularity

The carefully choreographed photo opportunities are designed to buff up the image of the judo black belt president among ordinary Russians.

Putin¡¯s popularity has reached an all-time high in recent months of just under 90 per cent as Russia¡¯s slavish state-run media has gone into overdrive to promote him since the seizure of Crimea in February 2014.

Stunt Fails!

Not all of Putin¡¯s eye-catching adventures have, however, been unmitigated successes.

A stunt in 2011 that saw a wetsuited Putin apparently find two ancient amphorae during a dive off the Russian coast close to Crimea drew widespread derision after it turned out the urns had been deliberately placed there.

Putin is in the middle of his third visit to Crimea since he ordered out thousands of special forces troops to take control of the peninsula.

Ukraine¡¯s President Petro Poroshenko on Monday lashed out over the trip saying it would ¡°escalate¡± a 16-month separatist conflict in east Ukraine that Kiev accuses Moscow of masterminding.