TASS reported that, like in previous years, President Putin celebrates his birthday at work. According to tradition, Mr. Putin began receiving congratulations from foreign leaders in the form of telegrams and phone calls in the morning.
In the first half of the day, a number of separate working meetings were scheduled. In the evening, President Putin will meet with heads of the Commission 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 day and night".
Mr. Putin never speaks publicly about his birthday and tries to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to this topic.
"Today is my birthday, not a national holiday. To me, exaggerating the importance of this day seems immodest," the Russian head of state stressed.
President Putin likes to celebrate his birthday on October 7 with friends and relatives. 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 widely, he still receives gifts. Gifts from foreign leaders almost always have a national flavor.
For example, in 2022 - on his 70th birthday - his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko gave Mr. Putin a Belarus tractor.
In 2017, Mr. Putin received an Alabai puppy named Verny from former Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov (it is 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 presented President Putin with an embroidered blanket depicting him and Mr. Putin standing next to each other on the background of the landmarks of the two countries.
