Russian President Vladimir Putin took a co-pilot’s seat in a nuclear-capable strategic bomber yesterday on a flight that appeared aimed at bolstering his image before an election next month that he’s all but certain to win.

Putin’s 30-minute flight in a Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber also seemed intended to send a reminder of Russia’s nuclear might amid soaring tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Putin, 71, who is running as an independent candidate, relies on tight control over Russia’s political system that he has established during 24 years in power. Last week’s death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny sent a chilling reminder of the Kremlin’s ruthless crackdown on dissent and dealt a heavy blow to the beleaguered Russian opposition.

Putin, clad in a flight suit, boarded the bomber at the snow-covered airfield of an aircraft-making plant in the Volga River city of Kazan. The factory has built heavy bombers since Soviet times.

It has received state orders to produce a modernised version of the Tu-160 bomber that first flew in the 1980s and was codenamed Blackjack by Nato.

The aircraft Putin flew was one of the first such revamped bombers, equipped with new engines and avionics and designated Tu-160M.

Speaking after the flight, he praised the new aircraft as “excellent”, noting big improvements on the original.

In 2000, he took a co-pilot’s seat in a Su-27 fighter to fly to Chechnya during separatist fighting there. In 2005, he co-piloted a Tu-160 during military drills.

As part of the Kremlin’s efforts to project the image of an action-loving and physically strong leader, Putin also took a co-pilot’s seat in an amphibious plane, flew a paraglider and drove a racing car and heavy trucks.

He also drove a heavy truck to a meeting in Kazan yesterday, one of a series of campaign trips ahead of the March 15-17 presidential election.

With prominent critics who could challenge him either jailed or living abroad and most independent media banned, Putin’s re-election is all but assured. He faces a token opposition from three other candidates nominated by Kremlin-friendly parties represented in parliament.