The head of Myanmar’s military government travelled to Russia on Monday on an official visit to a major ally of the Southeast Asian nation that has been shunned by much of the West for overthrowing a democratically elected government and subsequent brutal repression.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who departed from the military airport in the capital, Naypyitaw, will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The general is accompanied by fellow members of the ruling military council and Cabinet, as well as military officials, state television MRTV reported.