President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia travelled to the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to meet with military commanders, the Kremlin said on Saturday, in his first publicised visit to the military hub since it was seized in June in a short-lived rebellion led by the Wagner mercenary chief.

The Kremlin did not say when Putin visited. He met with the chief of the Russian military, General Valery V. Gerasimov, the Kremlin said. General Gerasimov and Sergei K. Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, were the primary targets of criticism from Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military company, in the lead-up to an uprising that plunged the country into crisis and raised questions about Putin’s leadership.

The visit, which appeared to take place at night, comes as Putin continues an active schedule of public appearances, aiming to project a sense of authority in the days since the mutiny and amid the war in Ukraine.

Rostov-on-Don is home to the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District, a strategic command centre for Putin’s war in Ukraine. Prigozhin briefly took control of the headquarters before his fighters began advancing toward Moscow.

The Russian state news agency Tass said that Putin had repeatedly visited the city and the command post there, including in March.