President Putin celebrates his birthday with his family

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has revealed Russian President Vladimir Putin's 66th birthday. "The president is spending the day with his loved ones, relatives and friends," Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question about Putin's birthday plans.

Among President Putin's friends, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came to Moscow to celebrate his birthday.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has come to Moscow to celebrate Mr Putin's birthday.

Sharing on his personal Facebook, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi said he was on a flight to meet his friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on his birthday. "I am on a plane to celebrate the birthday of my friend - Vladimir Putin. I will take the opportunity to discuss all the most important international issues" - he wrote.

In 2007, Silvio Berlusconi brought Putin a blanket printed with an image of the two shaking hands, against a backdrop of Russian and Italian landmarks.

This year, Verona Mayor Federico Sboarina and Banca Intesa Chairman Antonio Fallico took the opportunity to show their love for the Russian leader by singing him a birthday song from the stage of the ancient Roman theater Arena di Verona. "We wish you good health and hope that you will continue your work, which has helped change our world," Fallico said in Russian, shortly after Italian pop singer Toto Cutugno performed the famous Russian romantic song "Dark Eyes."

Besides the gifts from his Italian friends, President Putin still spends time with his family and friends. Birthday celebrations usually take place the day before.

President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Sputnik

On October 7, President Vladimir Putin turned 66. Of these, 17 have been leading Russia. Notably, before each of his birthdays, there is often information about the decline in public trust in him.

According to the results of the Russian Levada Center for Social Impact Surveys released on October 4, only 58% of Russians currently support President Putin, a sharp decrease compared to the 75% support level last year.

This seems to be bad news for the President as he has just signed into law a controversial law, thereby increasing the retirement age for Russian men from 60 to 65 and for women from 55 to 60. Meanwhile, the average life expectancy of Russian men is only 66 years old.

Last year, the results of a late September poll released in early October, just before President Putin's birthday, also showed unhappy results.

The results of a public opinion poll by the Russian state polling agency - VTSIOM show that more than 82% of Russians support what President Putin is doing as the country's leader. Although the approval rate is very high, this has decreased compared to September, when the figure was 85.3%. And the last week of September recorded a support rate of 82.2%.

Although President Putin's approval rating has dropped, this number only reflects part of the opinion of the Russian people and that does not stop the birthday greetings to the leader of the world's largest country.