Party Vibe

Mr Putin has a Labrador Retriever called Koni (full name Connie Paulgrave) the successors of the KGB gave him (she was from the specialist dogs they breed to sniff out bombs etc) – apparently he “talks to her often as she gives good advice” :laugh_at:

he recently got a GLONASS (Soviet satnav) collar for her and a tracker as his bodyguards are supposed to look after her but she often slips her lead… although when she did this when he was giving a speech to schoolchildren (and got up onto the stage) it increased his popularity as it showed his softer side..

I’ve noticed a lot of otherwise macho East European chaps actually have a soft spot for animals and nature – I think its because many had to do Soviet Pioneer stuff when they were kids (like Scouts but more hardcore) and one aspect of it was nature study.. also nearly everyone has to do 2 years NS which involves a lot of military exercises in the woodlands..

apparently Putin went apeshit when he heard of them Russians tying a hot air balloon to a live donkey to advertise a private beach and said he’d get the FSB to hunt down whoever was responsible (the person believed to be responsible did a runner and hasn’t been seen since)