It felt a bit like a return of the Vladimir Putin of yore today as video was released of the Russian president climbing into a small submersible to view the recently discovered wreck of a Byzantine era trading ship off the coast of Crimea. Putin spoke by radio to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev while still underwater, saying the wreck showed "how deep our historical roots are." As Buzzfeed's Max Seddon notes, the timing is unfortunate as this month marks the 15th anniversary of the sinking of the submarine Kursk, one of the worst naval disasters in Russian history and a lowpoint of Putin's presidency, but official media accounts are unlikely to dwell on that.
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