Yulia BUBNOVA, Nikita BUZHOR
„I don't have much time to rest“, admits Vladimir Putin. And when free minutes appear, he tries to use them according to the principle „the best rest is a change of activity“.
For example, the head of state of Russia sometimes cooks. „I make a salad, it's so delicious!“ - he said at a media forum in 2018. And the former head of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool, praised the „wonderful“ a dish prepared by Putin - kebabs with a secret marinade. Tuva and other Siberian regions, including Khakassia, Altai, are Putin's favorite places. “This is an unforgettable vacation, I guarantee it“, the president emphasized.
In 2013, Putin spent the night in a yurt, fishing in the Yenisei and its tributaries. In the end, I caught a 21-kilogram pike with a spinning rod. In 2017, on the way to Blagoveshchensk, he stopped again in Southern Siberia: “I visited the hard-to-reach taiga, fished in a cascade of mountain lakes, went spearfishing, sunbathed, descended mountain rivers and rapids, traveled along canals on motor boats and rafts, went hiking and rode ATVs through the mountains“.
In the following years, the president returned to the “Siberian route“ more than once.
Putin also recommends fishing in the Murmansk region and in the Volga delta. Sometimes he goes to Valaam to rest his soul. Moreover, often in the company of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The Valaam monastery is “one of the mirrors of Russia”, Putin believes. In the midst of nature, he tries to find time for sports. This was the case even before the presidency. A few years ago, the media published footage of Putin and the then Anatoly Sobchak on May Day in the early 1990s: the future head of state was filmed playing darts and ping-pong, surrounded by family and friends.
Vladimir Putin has been an athlete since childhood, he has been engaged in judo and sambo since the age of 11 and, as he himself notes, “has never stopped“. In 1976, the future president became the champion of Leningrad, and in 1978 he received the title of Master of Sports. Now judo is one of the forms of physical education for him, along with swimming. “First exercises, then - pool”, Putin admitted to director Oliver Stone in a conversation about his physical activity for his 2017 film about the Russian president.
The Kremlin published footage from the presidential gym at the Sochi residence, where Vladimir Putin came to work out on Sunday morning with Dmitry Medvedev, the then prime minister. After a warm-up, the politicians moved to weight machines, and then had breakfast on the open terrace, preparing meat on the grill.
Of the winter sports, Vladimir Vladimirovich's love for alpine skiing is well known:
“A great opportunity for active and useful recreation and maintaining physical fitness.“ And at the age of 60, Putin first got on skates and later recalled this with a great deal of self-irony: “I was already an old uncle. I wanted to throw them right away, to be honest. You can't stop, you hit the curb.“
Intense training under the guidance of hockey player Alexei Kasatonov brought the desired result, and Vladimir Putin began to regularly go out on the ice, including in Night Hockey League matches or simply with employees of the Federal Security Service. “I lose 1.5-2 kg during the game. Such a stressful sport“ the president shared his impressions.
Putin also includes extreme activities. He has gone rafting on rivers many times. He tried himself as a Formula 1 driver, spent several hours behind the wheel of a racing car, accelerating it to 240 km/h. He dived to the bottom of Lake Baikal in a bathyscaphe. He also sits at the helm of the Tu-160 and Tu-160M strategic bomber-crustacean.
In 2012 Vladimir Putin piloted a motorized hang glider in an experiment to save a rare species of crane. He had to show the released birds the route of their flight to their wintering grounds. The cranes took him as a guide. The president described his impressions as follows: “The adrenaline is on the edge. I recommend everyone to try it.“
His total flight time on a motorized hang glider was 17 hours. Only 8 were missing to receive a flight certificate.
According to Vladimir Putin, his passion for active recreation began in his youth with books by Jack London, Jules Verne and Ernest Hemingway. “Their heroes - brave, resourceful people who experience exciting adventures, shaped both my character and my attitude to active recreation,“ the president explained.
“As soon as I have time, especially before going to bed, I try to open a book, leaf through it, look at it, read it...“. The president sees this as an opportunity to “communicate with smart people“ in absentia.
Most often on his bedside table there is historical literature and memoirs. But he also has favorite fiction authors. “I always keep Lermontov on my desk. I read Lermontov with pleasure, to find myself in another world, useful, beautiful and interesting“, he said.
The president has also loved Rudyard Kipling since childhood. Sometimes he illustrates how some small "animals" are hanging around Russia, like the tiger Shere Khan.
Putin speaks German and English. To maintain his level, he "watches German TV channels, watches English TV channels", Peskov said. "Not every day, but definitely several times a week he studies English. These are short lessons, but regular", he said. said the press secretary of the head of state.
This is how Putin tries to fight the gradual loss of his vocabulary. "It's like a musical instrument." "You have to do this every day to maintain a certain level", the head of state recalled. Putin used German while working in the GDR in 1985-1990, and later confirmed his knowledge more than once. In September 2001, the Russian leader delivered a speech in German to members of the Bundestag. Nowadays, Vladimir Putin sometimes switches to German during negotiations or other events. “He alternates between German and Russian.“ mentioned by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. And Peskov said that when drawing up the Minsk agreements, Putin, together with other leaders, personally selected terms and checked their meanings during the translation. And this despite the fact that the draft was in English.
Putin learned English when he was already president. “It is a wonderful language.“ “He gave a lot to humanity in terms of unifying knowledge, uniting people in the field of culture“, the president told students during “Conversation about important things“. But he also advised paying attention to the Chinese language. "Now we are seeing a growing interest in the Chinese language," Putin said, adding that some of his family "speak Chinese, speak it fluently."
Source: TASS