Deer heart during hunt

Berlusconi threw up because of Putin gift

Italian ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi once threw up while hunting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin had given him a deer heart as a gift, according to a former confidant of Berlusconi.

During the hunt in Russia, Putin shot two deer, removed the heart from one of the animals and gave it to Berlusconi. "I got a shock. I hid behind a tree and threw up," Berlusconi has now been quoted as saying by former senator Fabrizio Cicchitto. Berlusconi, who died a year ago in June, had never held a gun before.

Equal friendship
This experience had shaken the relationship between the two leading politicians. The former Italian prime minister is said to have reconsidered his friendship with Putin, which lasted more than 20 years. "Berlusconi and Putin admired each other and their relationship was absolutely equal. Putin thought this Italian entrepreneur, who controlled television and had made the leap into politics, was brilliant. Berlusconi, in turn, thought Putin was a pragmatist who was capable of running a country like Russia (...)," Cicchitto said.

They could have done many things together and exchanged views on the economy and women's relations. Berlusconi wanted to bring Putin into the West and into NATO. "He thought he would win and instead he was taken for a ride by Putin." 

However, after the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, the Italian politician distanced himself from the Russian president. He was disappointed, even though he had described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi as a megalomaniac and despised him, said the former confidant.

Following Berlusconi's death, Putin spoke of a "dear person" and "true friend" (see video above).