Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Chukotka, an autonomous region in the very Far East of Russia on January 10.
Putin promised to visit to Chukotka in 2018. He then said that he had not been to all parts of Russia and noted that he would like to visit the Arctic region. Putin visited Chukotka in 2008, when serving as Prime Minister. Thus, this is the first time when he visits Chukotka as President.
When meeting local residents and officials, Putin said that he wanted to see the state of affairs in the region with his own eyes.
Chukotka is an extremely important region for Russia as it holds large reserves of natural resources. It also serves as an intersection for many trade routes, including the Northern Sea Route.
During his visit, Putin drove a snow and swamp-going vehicle, TASS reports. The snow and swamp-going vehicle has large diameter ultra-low pressure wheels.
Interestingly, the UK promptly responded to Vladimir Putin's trip to Chukotka. Putin was close to the USA without even leaving Russia, The Daily Mail tabloid noted. Russia is so vast that Putin can approach the USA without even leaving his own country.
Chukotka is the easternmost region of Russia, just 55 miles from the US state of Alaska. Temperatures vary between −35 and −15 °C (−31 and 5 °F) in January, and between +5 and +14 °C (41 and 57 °F) in July.