As in previous years, President Putin celebrated his birthday at work. According to tradition, Putin began receiving congratulations from foreign leaders in the form of telegrams and phone calls in the morning, TASS reported.
A number of separate working meetings are scheduled in the first half of the day. In the evening, President Putin will meet with the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), who are in Moscow ahead of the CIS summit on October 8.
The CIS currently consists of nine countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, President Putin works without a single day off. Even in a day, the president does not have specific working and resting hours - if necessary, he will receive reports even at night. Therefore, according to the spokesman, President Putin "works almost around the clock."
Mr Putin never speaks publicly about his birthday and tries to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to the subject.
"Today is my birthday, not a national holiday. It seems to me immodest to exaggerate the importance of this day," the Russian head of state stressed.
President Putin likes to celebrate his birthday on October 7 with friends and family. Despite his busy schedule, the President tries to spend at least one evening with his family. However, meetings with leaders of the CIS countries have become a good tradition.
Although the Russian head of state does not celebrate his birthday extensively, he still receives gifts. Gifts from foreign leaders almost always have a national flavor.
For example, in 2022 - on his 70th birthday - his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko presented Putin with a Belarusian tractor.
In 2017, Putin received an Alabai puppy named Verny from former Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov (it's no secret that the Russian leader loves dogs, and this is not the first time he has been given such pets).
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gave President Putin a blanket embroidered with a picture of him and Mr. Putin standing side by side with landmarks of the two countries in the background.
