After months of rarely traveling to Russia’s regions, Putin visits his fourth city in less than three weeks

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, where he is set to chair a State Council presidium meeting on developing public transportation.

Ulan-Ude is the fifth city Putin has visited since the start of the year — and the fourth in the past two and a half weeks alone — not counting Moscow and St. Petersburg. He has also traveled to Kazan, Irkutsk, Omsk, and Krasnoyarsk.

Gasoline prices at local stations dropped temporarily during his visits to Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, and the lines that regularly form at gas stations nationwide amid the fuel crisis vanished as well. Once Putin left, prices rose again.

After Ulan-Ude, Putin may head to Novosibirsk next. Local media reported that crews there have already begun hastily repaving roads, laying sod, and repairing sidewalks and building facades downtown.

The independent Russian investigative outlet iStories, along with CNN and the Financial Times, reported in May — citing an intelligence report from a European country — that Putin had scaled back his trips to Russian regions out of fear of an assassination attempt. The Federal Protective Service responded by stepping up security measures around the president.

In early June, the independent Russian political newsletter Faridaily said Putin had begun appearing in public more often, likely reflecting the Kremlin’s desire to burnish his image amid falling official approval ratings. Even so, he had still barely traveled around Russia by that point, since January, he had made only two trips to St. Petersburg.