Last year, Putin
spent his birthday far away from Moscow, holding an urgent meeting with
permanent members of the Russian Security Council in Sochi.
MOSCOW, October 7.
/TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin turns 66 on Sunday. "The
president will spend this day together with his near and dear ones, and
friends," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.
Traditionally, on his
birthday Putin receives greetings from other leaders by phone. Among the first
foreign leaders who congratulated Putin on Sunday was Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Armen Sarkissian. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a phone conversation wished
Putin good health and success in his hard work for the benefit of Russia and
its people.
Last year, Putin
spent his birthday far away from Moscow, holding an urgent meeting with
permanent members of the Russian Security Council in Sochi. In 2016, the
Russian president did not hold any public events on that day. A year earlier,
Putin took part in a match of the Night Hockey League, and in 2014 he
officially took a day off and flew to the Siberian taiga to mark his birthday.
Birthday gifts to
president
This year, President
of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik was one of the first leaders to congratulate
Putin. Last week, during their meeting in Sochi he greeted Putin on the
upcoming holiday, and presented him a badge with the flag of the country saying
that this is "actually the Russian flag upside down."
A year ago,
Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow gave Putin a shepherd dog
(locally known as Alabai) named Verny (Faithful).
Retail chains,
restaurants, public organizations and citizens from around the world often hold
various events to congratulate Putin on this day in a fancy way.
Last year, when Putin
turned 65, German businessmen presented him a T-shirt with a German national
team and a statuette with Soviet football star Lev Yashin. A restaurant in
Washington D.C. offered visitors a special pizza named "Hot Like
Putin." Another restaurant in New York honored Putin with a five-patty
burger. The Europeans also congratulated the Russian leader: graffiti appeared
on the streets in Paris and Berlin with congratulations.
Unusual events are
also held across Russia. This year, the All-Russian People’s Front made
"greetings from people" based on video messages sent by Russian
citizens. The organization’s youth branch will hold an event called "A
postcard for the president," collecting messages for Putin written by
Russians.
