A visitor visit the “12 Labors of Putin” art exhibition on October 6, 2014 marking the 60th birthday of Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the design workshop in Moscow. (Photo by Vasily Maximov/AFP Photo)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (back) attend a reception to honour graduates of military academies at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 28, 2016. (Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/Reuters/Sputnik/Kremlin)

A poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin is used as target practice along a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Zolote village, in the Lugansk region, on January 21, 2022. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on January 22, 2022, slammed Germany for its refusal to supply weapons to Kyiv, urging Berlin to stop “undermining unity“ and “encouraging Vladimir Putin” amid fears of a Russian invasion. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

Derby's Byron MacLean, left, edges out Hall's Joe Nham in the boys 55-meter hurdles at the CIAC State Open indoor track championships at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven, Saturday, February 17, 2024. Lyman Hall's Owen Rich, right, falls after taking down the final hurdle. (Photo by Cloe Poisson/Hartford Courant via AP Photo)

Young girls perform in front of the monument to Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin during the City Day celebrations in Yekaterinburg, Russia on August 19, 2017. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

People look at the paintings depicting Russian president Vladimir Putin dressed as Father Frost, Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, at the “SUPERPUTIN” exhibition at UMAM museum in Moscow, Russia on December 6, 2017. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Russian police detain a protester at a demonstration against President Vladimir Putin in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, May 5, 2018. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A mobile phone cover with a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin and which reads “Mr President” is seen in this photo illustration taken a in hotel room in Kazan, Russia, July 30, 2015. He may be in charge of an economy in crisis, but if mobile phone covers and souvenir mugs are a barometer of popularity, Russian President Vladimir Putin need not fear for his political future. In fact, Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has given the memorabilia makers even more material to glorify, sometimes wryly, a president whose image as a champion of Russian national interests in a hostile world is barely challenged in his own country. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)