Russian President Vladimir Putin kissed a golden Quran, the holy book of Islam, at the White Mosque in Shali during a visit to Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim Russian republic.
It is a surprising gesture, at first glance, by the Kremlin leader and appears in a video posted on Telegram by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
These images have sparked many reactions on social media.
The Orthodox Christian religion is predominant in Russia, but it is not a state religion, rather one of the religions practiced in the vast country.
Approximately 25 million Muslims live in Russia, mainly Sunnis, representing 15% of the Russian population and around 96% in Chechnya.
Vladimir Putin has been "navigating" between Orthodox and Muslim identities for many years, in a challenging effort to reconcile in Chechnya, where two bloody wars took place in the 1990s and 2000s between Russian federal forces and a gradually Islamized separatist rebellion.
Putin visited the recently built "Prophet Isa" Mosque on Tuesday, triggering a wave of reactions.
During this visit to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, he received a gift from local dignitaries, a Quran encased in gold.
As a gesture of respect, he bowed and kissed the Quran, which he held close, a gesture that garnered much attention and sparked controversy.
Putin made his first visit to Chechnya in the last 13 years, a visit with symbolic significance considering the Ukrainian invasion in Kursk.
He was accompanied by Kadyrov and Mufti Salah Mezhiev, the spiritual leader of the Chechen Muslims, who emphasized through their presence the importance of the event locally and in a broader Islamic context.
Comments on social media range from distrust to criticism.
"Wow. They say he is an Orthodox Catholic. The true God will not be happy. We reap what we sow, including that we have no other gods before the true God," challenges the gesture of an internet user.
Another raises a religious etiquette issue - "Is kissing not haram in Islam?" - while another doubts the authenticity of the Quran - "Is it not haram to falsify the Quran in Islam?".