Vladimir Putin is on his way to Alaska, but has made a quick stop in Magadan, a far eastern city in Russia.
Located on the Sea of Okhotsk, it is best known as a former outpost of Stalin's gulag system.
State television made sure cameras filmed him as he walked through local manufacturing facilities, inspecting every part. Putin took part in a tour of a new line of Russian dietary supplements that are proudly presented as part of Moscow's ambition for "complete independence" from Western imports.

But despite the rhetoric about breaking free from Western supply chains, every product was packaged with English-language labels.
Putin has a busy agenda before continuing his trip to Anchorage, with Russian state media reporting that he also visited a fish processing plant and sports complex in Magadan.
He will then lay flowers at a memorial honoring Soviet-American air cooperation during World War II.