Purring for Putin's 60th

A group of female fans of Vladimir Putin offer a kittenish celebration of their president's macho qualities.

Published

7 months ago

Categories

Seriously?, World

Topics

Europe, Seriously?

People

Vladimir Putin, Andrew Raven

Places

Russia, Moscow

Transcript

Happy Birthday, Mr President. A pro-Kremlin youth group has released this lavish new video to celebrate the 60th birthday of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. It is filled with ironic nods to some of the uber-macho president's most famous stunts, from riding bare-chested on horseback, to discovering ancient artefacts to flying a fighter jet. Putin - seen here in file footage - was ridiculed over many of the stunts, but it seems some fans love him for them, anyway. The video was part of celebrations across the country marking his birthday. Here in Moscow, fans do what they called "Pull ups for Putin", in honour of the president's love of sports. Putin, whose birthday is Sunday, has run Russia for the last 12 years and has a massive cult following.