Putin spokesman dubs crane injury claims a flight of fancy
Source: Agencies |
November 2, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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DID Vladimir Putin's flight with a flock of cranes end up grounding him? The Russian president's spokesman says no.
In recent weeks, Putin has rarely left his official residence, sparking speculation that illness or injury had laid him low. Yesterday, the respected newspaper Vedomosti cited unnamed Kremlin-connected sources as saying Putin's September flight in a motorized hang-glider accompany migrating cranes had aggravated an old injury.
But his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency RIA Novosti that Putin had an old injury, but it was not connected to the highly publicized flight.
Peskov was quoted as saying that Putin was making only infrequent trips to the Kremlin because he didn't want his motorcade to disrupt Moscow's notoriously bad traffic.
The presidential motorcade forces the shutdown of large stretches of highway, an inconvenience that irritates drivers.
Putin has also put off several expected trips abroad, including to India, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Interfax news agency cited Peskov as saying there was no single reason behind those changes.
The hang-glider flight with the cranes, which took place in September just before an international summit in Vladivostok, was one of Putin's trademark adventurous media events. The 60-year-old Russian leader has cultivated an image of vigor and daring, including being shown swimming in a Siberian river and petting a tranquilized polar bear in the Arctic.
In recent weeks, Putin has rarely left his official residence, sparking speculation that illness or injury had laid him low. Yesterday, the respected newspaper Vedomosti cited unnamed Kremlin-connected sources as saying Putin's September flight in a motorized hang-glider accompany migrating cranes had aggravated an old injury.
But his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency RIA Novosti that Putin had an old injury, but it was not connected to the highly publicized flight.
Peskov was quoted as saying that Putin was making only infrequent trips to the Kremlin because he didn't want his motorcade to disrupt Moscow's notoriously bad traffic.
The presidential motorcade forces the shutdown of large stretches of highway, an inconvenience that irritates drivers.
Putin has also put off several expected trips abroad, including to India, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Interfax news agency cited Peskov as saying there was no single reason behind those changes.
The hang-glider flight with the cranes, which took place in September just before an international summit in Vladivostok, was one of Putin's trademark adventurous media events. The 60-year-old Russian leader has cultivated an image of vigor and daring, including being shown swimming in a Siberian river and petting a tranquilized polar bear in the Arctic.
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