Kremlin leader turns 72

Hardliners honor Putin: “God save the tsar!”

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Russian republic of Chechnya (r.), considers himself Putin's "foot soldier".(Bild: AFP/VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV / POOL / AFP)

"God save the tsar!" With these words, ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 72nd birthday on Monday. 

The congratulations, which Dugin published a few minutes after midnight via the short messaging service Telegram, reflect the admiration that Putin enjoys in parts of the Russian population.

The 62-year-old Dugin is considered a fervent advocate of a new Russian empire, which is to include Ukraine as well as the Russian-speaking territories. Putin has been Russian president for almost 25 years.

"Birthday of our national leader"
Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Russian republic of Chechnya and Putin's self-appointed "foot soldier", also congratulated the president on Telegram. "Today is the birthday of our national leader," wrote Kadyrov at midnight. "This is a great day for our entire fatherland."

Putin had won an unprecedented landslide victory since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the elections in March 2022, just a few weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine. His new six-year term, should he complete it, would make him the longest-serving Russian head of state in over 200 years.