Bare-

breasted feminists protest in Putin polling station

 

Topless three Ukrainian feminists against the likely next Russian President Vladimir Putin protested.

 

The members of the movement Femen met on Sunday in a Moscow polling station where given a few minutes before Putin and his wife had her voice, like a photographer for the news agency AFP reported. On chest and back, the young women had written in black letters "I steal for Putin" and "Kremlin-rats".

"Putin is a thief"

The three activists chanted "Putin is a thief!" And tried to steal the ballot box with the ballots of the incumbent government. However, they were immediately arrested by the police.

The movement Femen is known to its members protesting topless. She is committed to women's rights and fighting against corruption and economic and social inequality.

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Vladimir Putin Ad Shows Couple Having Sex In Voting Booth

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Putin arrives at biker event to strains of Night Wolves anthem

A biker show hosted by the Night Wolves motorcycle club was held on the waterfront in Novorossiysk on August 29. A stage was set up especially for the occasion on the Mikhail Kutuzov, the USSR's largest cruiser, which was moored at the waterfront. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin thanked participants from the stage for their patriotism.

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Putin finds ancient artifacts while scuba diving in south Russia

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went scuba diving in Taman Bay, south Russia, to explore the flooded part of the ancient town of Phanagoria, dubbed “the Russian Atlantis.” He came to the surface holding two ancient Greek jugs. 

Putin also visited an archeological camp and several excavation sites. He spoke with local researchers about the possibility of creating a sanctuary that would include both land and sea.
Phanagoria is the largest ancient settlement in modern-day Russia. The town was established around the 5th century BC. But at the turn of the 10th century, the inhabitants fled their homes for some unknown reason. Exploration of Phanagoria began in the late 18th century, after Russia’s annexation of Taman. But scientific research in the area did not begin until 1936.

 

 

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'Like Putin' online game appears on Web

 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became the main character in the game of online platform giving users a chance to drive a Lada Kalina, tackle forest fires and "waste terrorists in the outhouse."

The goal of the "Like Putin" game is to boost "VVP," a Russian abbreviation which is both the Russian term for GDP and the Russian premier's initials. The goal of the "Like Putin" game is to boost "VVP," a Russian abbreviation Which is the Russian term for both GDP and the Russian premier's initials.

Like in many platform games, two-dimensional Putin moves along various locations to gather bonuses, hearts and medals. Like in many platform games, two-dimensional Putin moves along various locations to gather bonuses, hearts and medals.

Several political scientists told Business FM the game is just a part of the forthcoming election campaign, others argue that Putin's image has long been a part of mass culture. Several political scientists told Business FM the game is just a part of the forthcoming election campaign, others argue that Putin's image has long been a part of mass culture.

"I'm not quite sure that such things are somehow initiated by Putin or his circle. His image probably became something absolutely different from Putin himself," analyst Alexei Makarkin said. "I'm not quite sure that such things are somehow initiated by Putin or his circle. His image became probably something absolutely different from Putin himself," analyst Alexei Makarkin said.

A government source said they were not notified about plans to make Putin an online game character. A government source said they were not notified about Putin plans to make on-line game character.

Alexei Kabakov, the head of the Agency One company, which created the game, said it was created as a promotion stunt for the company. Alexei Kabakov, the head of the Agency One company, Which created the game, said it was created as a promotional stunt for the company.

"We were afraid that the reaction would be bad, but it seems to me that we made an enjoyable game. We were thinking about a striking move to promote our agency... And Vladimir Putin immediately came to our minds," he said. "We were afraid that the reaction would be bad, but it seems to me that we made an enjoyable game. We were thinking about a striking move to promote our agency ... And Vladimir Putin immediately came to our minds," he said.

Putin's image has earlier been used to advertise a fishing shop, a shopping mall, a travel agency and even lawn grass. Putin's image has earlier been used to advertise a fishing shop, a shopping mall, a travel agency and even lawn grass. 

 

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Putin and His "Army" Eyeing Presidency? 

 

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UPDATE
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Russian envoy slams retraction of Putin's prize

 

Russia's ambassador to Berlin on Monday blasted the decision to cancel plans to award a private democracy prize to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after a storm of protest in Germany.

Ambassador Vladimir Grinin told ARD public television ahead of a joint Russian-German cabinet meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev and Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday that he found the flap "very distasteful and indecent."

"I regret it deeply," he said, while adding: "I do not think that it will harm our relations."

The private foundation that awards the Quadriga prize each October 3, the anniversary of German reunification, to "role models for enlightenment, dedication and the public good" had earlier this month selected Putin as this year's winner.

The announcement sparked outrage across the political spectrum over Putin's disputed record on human rights, journalistic freedom and the Chechnya conflict.

Others noted the award could seem to be an endorsement of Putin for March's presidential election. He has not yet announced whether he will stand.

On Saturday, the organisers bowed to what they called "unbearable" pressure, including a threat by the 2009 laureate, former Czech president Vaclav Havel, to return the prize, and called off this year's ceremony.

Grinin said Moscow wanted to continue the bilateral dialogue on the rule of law that is part of the "modernisation partnership between Russia and Germany" and is on the agenda for the talks Tuesday in Hannover.

Asked whether Merkel saw the jury's U-turn as an "affront" that would cast a shadow over the get-together, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said it would not.

"The chancellor is going into the meeting tomorrow morning confident that it will lead to several specific projects that underline the strong partnership between the two countries," he said.

In Moscow, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the affair Saturday, insisting it would not affect relations between the two countries and that the government would "treat with respect any decision by this organisation."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle stressed the importance of good relations with Russia, warning that ties should not be damaged for "frivolous reasons."

"Yes, we have differences of opinion, we would like to see progress on this front," he told reporters in Brussels.

"But at the end of the day the German-Russian relationship is of strategic importance and they should not be damaged because of some rashness or other."

 

AFP/mry

 

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UPDATE

       UPDATE

Germany withdraws award for Putin

 

Berlin-based Werkstatt Deutschland on Saturday reversed its decision to award Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the prestigious Quadriga prize due to massive criticism.

The organization said its plans to give Putin the Quadriga Award as a "role model for enlightenment, dedication and the public good" had come under massive attack in the media and the political community.

Putin was to be honored for his contribution to Russia's "stability through the interaction between prosperity, economics and identity," as well as to the reliability of German-Russian ties.

But many German public figures have protested the plan, saying his human rights record made him an unacceptable candidate.

The prize, a small statue of the quadriga - a chariot pulled by four horses - on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, was to have been bestowed upon the Russian prime minister October 3, the Day of German Unity.

Putin served with the KGB in East Germany for five years until German reunification in 1990.

Several Quadriga board members, including Cem Ozdemir, a co-chair of the German opposition Green party, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and history professor Edgar Wolfrum, withdrew from the board in protest against the decision.

Ozdemir said there were "differences" between him and other board members in the evaluation of Putin's contribution to "democracy" and the rule of law, while Wolfrum described the decision as "scandalous."

There are 20 people on the Quadriga board, including German Secretary of State Wolf-Ruthart Born, Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer, as well as Serbian President Boris Tadic and other public figures.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former Czech president Vaclav Havel have won the award in the past.

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UPDATE

Group refuses to rescind Quadriga award to Putin

 

The organization responsible for a prestigious German political award, the Quadriga Prize, is standing by its decision to honour Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, despite withering criticism and the resignation of a key board member from the Green party.

The annual prize, set to be awarded in October, is supposed to recognize "role models for enlightenment, dedication and the public good." But critics have said Putin – known for suppressing the press and curtailing civil rights in Russia – doesn't qualify.

Cem Özdemir, the head of Germany's Green party, said he was stepping down from the board of the non-profit Netzwerks Quadriga, which awards the prize, in protest of the decision.

"In my view, the Quadriga prize should go to people who have done a particular service to democracy and its promotion," he said in a statement. "I do not see Vladimir Putin among those ranks."

Putin is supposedly receiving the award in part because of progress he’s made in improving relations between Russia and Germany, the board said, adding that this “is one of the great achievements of Vladimir Putin.”

But many German politicians have charged that his human rights record makes him an unacceptable candidate.

“During his tenure as head of state and prime minister, Putin has dismantled democracy, restricted freedom, undermined the rule of law and given Russia corruption,” Human Rights Commissioner Markus Löning told the website of Der Spiegel.

Erika Steinbach, a Bundestag member with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union added: “During his presidency, human rights were and are being systematically violated.”

She said the prize’s value could only be saved if it was not awarded to Putin.

Putin worked as a KGB agent in the eastern German city of Dresden in the 1980s and speaks fluent German.

After becoming president in 2000, he cultivated close ties with former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who now works for Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Previous winners include UK musician Peter Gabriel, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and former Czech dissident and President Vaclav Havel.

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Top Kremlin aide says Putin is God's gift to Russia

 

( Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was sent to Russia by God to help his country during one of its most turbulent times, the Kremlin's chief political strategist said on Friday in rare public remarks.

"I honestly believe that Putin is a person who was sent to Russia by fate and by the Lord at a difficult time for Russia," Vladislav Surkov, a staunch Putin supporter and one of Russia's most powerful men, was quoted by Interfax news agency as telling state-run Chechen TV.

"(Putin was) preordained by fate to preserve our peoples," said Surkov, who is also the Kremlin's first deputy chief of staff.

Putin, 58, was president between 2000-2008 before becoming prime minister and is widely viewed as Russia's key decision-maker.

The former KGB spy, picked by an ailing President Boris Yeltsin as his prime minister and heir apparent, restored national pride by sending troops back into Chechnya to quell a burgeoning insurgency and presided over a long economic boom following the chaos of the Soviet Union's collapse.

Popular with ordinary Russians, Putin crushed politically-ambitious business "oligarchs" who made their fortunes under Yeltsin, crafting a political system dependent on his own personal authority and sidelining opponents.

Neither Putin nor his 45-year-old protege, President Dmitry Medvedev, have said if they will run in the March vote. Public backing by officials of either of them, however, is rare.

The comments by Surkov, who served in the Kremlin under Putin throughout his presidency, will fuel criticism by opponents that a personality cult is building around the prime minister ahead of presidential elections in 2012.

Two months ago, a nun-like sect appeared in central Russia claiming that Putin was a saint and a saviour. A spokesman said Putin "does not approve of that kind of admiration".

Putin's alliance with the increasingly powerful Orthodox Church has unnerved the country's large Muslim minority and those who say it undermines Russia's secular constitution.

The Church has undergone a revival since the fall of the Soviet Union 20 years ago ended decades of repression under Communism, and Putin and Medvedev have endorsed it as the country's main faith.

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German prize for Putin stirs controversy

 

A prominent German political prize will go to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a spokesman said Sunday, in a move sharply criticized in the German press due to his rights record.

The Quadriga Prize, bestowed on the anniversary of German reunification on October 3, is a private award that recognizes "role models for enlightenment, dedication and the public good," the Werkstatt Deutschland organization said.

Its board of trustees is comprised of top officials from across the political spectrum, journalists and business executives.

Previous winners include European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, former Czech president Vaclav Havel and Serbian President Boris Tadic.

Werkstatt Deutschland spokesman Stephan Clausen confirmed reports that Putin would accept the prize in Berlin.

However he admitted that the board's choice was a matter of "heated debate," with Greens party leader Cem Özdemir abstaining in the vote, which nevertheless garnered a majority for Putin.

"Reliability paired with staying power, dependability paired with the ability to communicate make up the character and personality of Vladimir Putin," the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung
quoted the organization as writing in its report on the selection of Putin.
"He has created and is creating stability in his country with the interplay of prosperity, business and national identity."

But the front-page article said: "Russian human rights activists and intellectuals would hardly recognize the Moscow strongman in this statement."

The Tagesspiegel newspaper wrote in an editorial Sunday that the ex-KGB agent had never broken with his past in the secret services and had established a new authoritarian system.

"Putin continuously consolidated his power in the last 11 years," it said. "The supposed stability (in Russia under Putin) has a high price: less freedom, less democracy ... This award is not only for Russian rights activists a slap in the face."

Putin entered the Kremlin as president in 2000 and remained until 2008. In that time, the state wrested back control of major media outlets, subjected rights groups to a wave of new restrictions and dealt harshly with perceived opponents.

He now serves as prime minister and has remained the country's most popular politician. Neither he nor current President Dmitry Medvedev have said which of them will run in presidential elections scheduled for March. 

 

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