Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrates his 72nd birthday this Monday (7), with some supporters hailing the former KGB spy as a “czar” who would achieve victory for the country against the West in the war in Ukraine.
Putin, who assumed the Kremlin’s top job eight years after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, is the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, who died outside Moscow in 1953 at the age of 74.
Considered by Western leaders as an autocrat, murderer and war criminal, Putin has seen his popularity grow within Russia since ordering thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, according to Russian opinion polls.
“God save the Tsar!” wrote ultranationalist Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, who has long advocated the unification of Russian-speaking and other territories into a vast new Russian empire that he says must include Ukraine.
“Putin governs the country confidently and without rushing. And it will always be like this — well, almost”, added Dugin, in the birthday message published on the Telegram messaging channel minutes after midnight.
Unlike most of Russia’s historic leaders, Putin has no visible successor. He also has no serious opponents, according to several Russian sources.
See what we know about Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory
This content was originally published on Putin 72 years ago; president is Russia’s longest-serving leader since Stalin on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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