Putin backs head of Russian republic after protests

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he will soon be travelling to the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, which has recently been shaken by protests.
During a videoconference on Thursday, he accepted the invitation from the head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, to visit.
"We will see each other and talk about issues relating to the development of the republic in the near future," the Russian president said.
He expressed his thanks for the invitation, spoke about the hospitality and culture of the ethnic Bashkirs and what he described as their good economic development. He did not speak about the protests.
In mid-January, there were serious clashes between police and demonstrators in Bashkortostan, an oil-rich region on the Volga around 1,300 kilometres east of Moscow.
The protests began in the small town of Baymak, where the eco-activist Fail Alsynov had been sentenced to four years in prison.
The 37-year-old was known in the past as a leader of protests against the mining of a limestone mountain in his home region.
Alsynov is also in favour of greater autonomy for the republic and the protection of the Bashkir language.
During the trial, the Russian judiciary accused him of stirring up ethnic hatred because he had allegedly used a racist expression in a speech. His supporters saw this as a pretext to silence Alsynov.
The protests later spread to other cities, and were increasingly directed against the head of the region, Khabirov, whom the demonstrators accused of corruption.
The police cracked down on the protests.
Two months before the Russian presidential election, the Kremlin was reluctant to comment on the case and denied that the protests were large.
Putin is trying to maintain the appearance of stability ahead of the election despite his war against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for almost two years.