ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Russian President Vladimir Putin kissed the holy Alquran during his visit to Chechnya this week.
During Putin’s meeting with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the two visited the newly built Isa Mosque in the Chechen capital, Grozny.
While visiting the mosque, Putin presented him with a copy of the Alquran inlaid with gold. Putin is then seen kissing her on camera. Video footage of Putin kissing the Alquran then went viral on social media.
Chechnya is a Russian state with a Muslim majority population. Putin’s visit was to encourage military volunteers who were training there before being sent to the Ukrainian front lines.
The social media account of the Russian Embassy in Indonesia stated that apart from being plated with gold, the Alquran that Putin presented was also encrusted with gemstones.
“Vladimir Putin presented a Alquran decorated with gold-plated ornaments and encrusted with gemstones for the mosque,” said a written statement from the Russian Embassy in Indonesia via Telegram, quoted Thursday, August 22 2024.
The embassy said that the Isa Mosque has two floors and can accommodate up to 5,000 worshipers. The visit to the Isa Mosque came after Putin inspected Chechen troops and volunteers who were preparing to fight Ukraine. This visit is also the first time in the last 13 years.
The surprise visit comes as Russia struggles to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, two weeks after they breached the border in the biggest invasion of Russia since the Second World War.
“As long as we have people like you, we are truly invincible,” Putin told troops at the Russian Special Forces University, a training school in Gudermes, Chechnya.
Putin’s visit to Chechnya comes as Ukraine continues its surprise offensive in the Kursk Oblast region. Zelensky’s forces have now reportedly captured hundreds of kilometers of territory in the region. The surprise attack began on August 6, with Kyiv forces breaking through the border in Ukraine’s Sumy region. The attack forced the Russians to evacuate more than 100,000 people.
Ukraine also launched a massive drone attack on Moscow early Wednesday, part of a larger aerial bombardment of Russia by Ukrainian UAVs. (AT Network)
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