Yesterday marked the 60th birthday of recently re-elected Russian President, Vladimir Putin. In celebration of the momentous occasion, the President graced his citizens with a first-person documentary which depicted his abilities as the tireless, hard-working, unexaggerated national treasure that he believes he is.

The documentary, which aired on Russian television last night, takes a look at the leader’s Spartan lifestyle, which frequently features his black labrador, Kony, and also explores some of his controversial views which he continues to stand by.

From the very first steps, everything I did came in for criticism, but I was absolutely convinced in what I was doing and that there was no other path.

True to his nature, he was supremely confident throughout the video and brushed off the street protests that rocked the country at the time of his re-election earlier in the year.

Putin also referred to the opposition as “husks” to be thrown out, and went on to say that he welcomed opposing views, as long as they came from people who were willing to take responsibility for running the country.

Regarding the prosecution, sentencing and jailing of the all-girl, punk rock band, Pussy Riot, Putin stood by and supported the court’s decision.

My first reaction was they should ask believers for forgiveness and that would have been that. But they kept building it up and building it up, and so the whole case ended up in court and the judge slipped them two years.

The documentary also looked at the President’s private life, which shows him performing daily weightlifting and training in the pool at his residence. Throughout the film he is almost never without his faithful labrador.

While Putin chose to quietly take in the occasion with friends and family, celebrations took place across the country. Of course, the day was not without its hiccups, and several demonstrators gathered outside the President’s office to criticise the birthday boy himself. The video below shows more.

https://youtu.be/45mzLC9iCYc

Below, a small gallery offers a glimpse of  the tough life of Russia’s leader.

[Source: Daily Mail, Yahoo!]