Russia's hard man Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pulled on a wetsuit Wednesday and went scuba diving at an ancient Greek Black Sea site in the latest populist stunt preceding next year's elections.
State news reports said he descended just two metres (6.6 feet) and "luckily" discovered two sixth century urns in full presence of the media, because the water was so clear.
Television footage showed two moss-covered vases with ear-like handles sitting neatly next to each other on top of the sandy bottom as Putin swam into view.
"Treasure!" a dripping wet Putin told reporters with a big grin. "They drank it all already," he added when asked if there was anything left in the jars.
Putin -- a novice only attempting his third scuba dive -- "came across" the objects during an expedition on the southern Russian coast near Ukraine.
"The head of the expedition said they are from the sixth century AD," Putin said with a diving mask imprint still clear on his face. This would date them to the time of the early Byzantine era.
"When the ships were being loaded at the port, the jars would often break and then they would get tossed overboard," Russia's de facto leader explained.
Footage showed Putin accompanied on the diving raft by Russia's emergencies minister Sergei Shoigu and the powerful metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska.
The Basic Element company chief reportedly told Putin that he forgot his diving suit and refused to go into the water.
"What, you ran out of money?" the LifeNews.ru website quoted Putin as asking the Russian oligarch.