E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSRussian President Vladimir Putin has piloted an ultralight to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight. NBC's Karl Bostic reports.
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin took his love of wildlife to new heights Wednesday by flying with endangered cranes to help lead them on a migration route.
Putin donned a baggy white costume with a spacious helmet and goggles and was shown in media reports flying with a copilot in a motorized deltaplane light aircraft.
Putin flew a test flight followed by two flights with the cranes, Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported.
"They got used to it. They are not afraid, they are overtaking the deltaplane," a smiling Putin said after landing, broadcaster Rossiya 24 reported. "They are overtaking, approaching the wing from the left, from the right, from above. Well done. Beautiful guys. Cute. They are 3 months old but already quite big."
Alexei Nikolsky / AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin
The cranes were raised at the Kushevat ornithological sanctuary and had to be shown the route to wintering grounds, Ria Novosti news agency reported. Kushevat is near the city of Salerkhard, close to the Arctic Circle.
PhotoBlog: Russia's Putin takes to sky
When the cranes were released Wednesday, only one followed the flying leader on his first flight. Five birds followed on the second flight, Ria Novosti said, although only two kept pace for 15 minutes.
The exercise was aimed at prompting the birds to follow the plane and prepare them for their migration route -- part of the "Flight of Hope" project to protect the endangered Siberian white crane.
Visibly pleased, Putin said it had been his idea to fly the deltaplane, although it appeared to be steered most of the time by another person in a similar white costume sitting behind him.
Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com
"I liked this program," Putin said, telling Ria Novosti that he had become interested and bought a motorized hang glider with his own money, which he said he would hand over to the scientists.
"I advise everyone to try it," he said.
Putin has tracked a Siberian tiger and posed with a polar bear as part of an effort to create the image of a clean-living, nature-loving person during his 12 years as Russia's leader.
AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin, (foreground) flies in a motorized hangglider alongside two Siberian white cranes on Wednesday on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia.
Macho stunts by Putin, who turns 60 in October, have helped his image but have also irritated some Russians and become fodder for for satire by opponents.
There was widespread disbelief in 2008 when Putin appeared to save a television crew from a rare Amur tiger in far eastern Russia by shooting it with a tranquilizer gun, the Guardian newspaper of London reported.
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
The Kremlin's press service admitted last year that Putin's dive in the Black Sea had been staged -- Greek amphorae had been placed on the sea floor for Putin to "discover."
Putin, a former KGB spy back at the Kremlin for his third term in office, in the winter faced the largest wave of dissent against his spell over Russia since he first became president.
Though the protests have lost some steam, opposition activists on Wednesday eagerly jumped on the latest stunt by reinterpreting the lyrics of a 1980s disco song, "Deltaplane" -- "Possibly, only a hang-glider will help me" - as heralding Putin's eventual departure from power.
During a question-and-answer with Russians while he was president, he was asked why he looked more comfortable with wild tigers and leopards than with his own ministers, the Guardian reported.
"The more I know people, the more I like dogs," Putin replied. "I simply like animals."
This article includes reporting by Reuters.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Deadly shooting mars new Quebec premier's victory rally
- Couple held hostage by pirates for 388 days to set sail on new journey
- Car crash politics: Laws don't touch rich in Thailand
- Hundreds of Afghan soldiers detained, fired over 'links with insurgents'
- Mexico arrests 'El Gordo,' alleged leader of Gulf Cartel drug gang
- Cringe! Britain's finance chief booed at Paralympic Games
Leave a Comment:
I luv his man-boobs!
♫☺♥☻♪♪ "My boyfriend is in trouble once again:
Got in a fight, got drunk on something nasty
I've had enough and I chased him away ♫♪
And now I want a man like Putin
(chorus - with feelin'!)
♫♪ One like Putin, full of strength
One like Putin, who won't be a drunk ♫♪
One like Putin, who wouldn't hurt me
One like Putin, who won't run away! " ♫☺♥☻♪♪
"I advise everyone to try it," he said.
Or else.
I'm waiting to hear what he has done to help save endangered Chechnyans.
First, find a place where "Chechnyans" live on a map without googling you pinhead. And birth rate in Chechnya is one of the highest in Russia, thank you for your concern.
My, such vituperation ... and so early in the day. I suggest you modify the dosage of whatever meds you are taking.
What is with all the fuss and jokes ???????
PUTIN was just out on a test flight on RUSSIA'S latest DRONE !!!!! He loved it, because it is faster than hot air balloons. This was just the first sign of his rebuilding and quality control checking of his military / industrial rebuilding.
What kind or cranes? How endangered are they? How many were in the group? Where are they leading them? How long will their journey take? How old is the program? How successful? Do the cranes return for the following season? Did the trip end successfully? Did all the cranes finish the journey?
How did Putin latch onto this, and can anyone try? By "two flights", do you mean two legs of the journey or two journeys with different flocks? Is a two-man ultra light the usual conveyance they use, or does ol' Vlad need a co-pilot? Had he ever flown an ultra light? And who's the other guy? So many questions and no answers.
How about a COMPLETE STORY, MSN?
Too bad a crane wasn't sucked into the prop/engine.
Eevie,
The story said they were White Siberian Cranes, but you're correct, that was about all I could find in that article, also.
bdjb for common sense,
Why would you want a crane sucked into the engine? To kill a crane, or to crash the ultra light?
If you love something, set them FREE! Let those women from P...y Riot out of jail! And encourage FREE SPEECH in Russia! Putin is really a Republican.
Please don't associate conservatives with socialists.
It shows your level.
Republicans need a man like Putin. No flip flopping with him.
You need to move to Russia Yank ( you, by your moniker are already closer to him anyway).
Bet you can see Russia from your back yard.
Encourage free speech, not hooliganism in churches. Two guys wrote antisemitic slogans on the walls of a sinagoga in one of the Russian cities and got 6 years in prison to think things over. So how about their right to hold and express antisemitic views? I am sure you will defend their right to desecrate sinagoga as much as you defend the right of pussies to desecrate Orthodox church, have a gang bang in a Moscow museum and steal frozen chickens by stuffing them in vaginas. They actually chanted "Putin sucks" while stuffing that poor chicken in vagina so I guess it qualifies as a political action. IMHO, those sluts actually got off easily with just 2 years. Should,ve gotten at least 6. BTW, if u want to help them buy a pussy riot merch, they actually trademarked pussy riot name! Is not capitalism beautiful? Making money on spitting in peoples' souls, desecrating churches and behaving like total @!$%#s.
Actually, by any accurate definition, Russia's government is very, very conservative, although not nearly as much so as the Soviet Union was under the Bolsheviks. Instead of using worn-out and inappropriate labels, how about we actually look at the system and call it what it really is?
To bobs ur: how about if drunk and half naked ... riots will visit any of your congregations house? It is pure act of vandalism, and have nothing with politics! If they want to say something against government they have plenty amount of space everywhere else but churches!
That's why they get jail time, not because something else. I really hope they can come to any mock with this issue: it will be no time to discussion, I guess. And no jail time, ether.
So why then its so wrong for Russia ? Old peoples seeking God and some "peaches" interrupt it?! Screw that democracy then, this is smell anarchy already.
Our president probably went golfing.....again.
And?
Exactly.
No president golfed more than Eisenhower.
The nerve of Obama! One question, do you complain when your friends and acquaintences golf? Your post says "golfing....again" like it might sound if you were saying "at a sleazy porno movie....again".
Obama, as of mid-July had gone golfing 102 times. Woodrow Wilson played 1000 rounds of golf while president (2 terms), Diwght Eisenhower played 210 rounds at Augusta National alone during his eight years.
Did George W Bush not go to Crawford, TX 77 times, the most vacationing president ever? A side note, those vacations; using air Force One, security, all the things a president needs to have; totaled a minimum of $17 million (likely closer to $124 million) for the 77 trips. (Obama, went five months without a vacation from approx. Feb to June.)
An email going around right now claims that Obama is traveling on Air Force One with more personnel, and more often than other presidents. Not true, according to Factcheck. He has traveled about the same or less than previous presidents, notably much less, on average, than GWB did during his presidency. So, just to clear up some things about President Obama that sound excessive, but when compared to other presidents, are not.
"The more I know people, the more I like dogs," Putin replied. "I simply like animals."
Its hard to disagree with that.
Considering that he wants to treat his people like animals that MIGHT be a compliment, (I don't know).
I get it now! Putin is protecting al Assaud of Syria, who is killing the men, women and children in his country, because al Assaud is a rabid Dog. And here I thought Putin was just being an a**w***e.
Viewer_Ready:
Do you have proof of that? Have your ever traveled to the Russian Federation?
35,000 Chechnyans can't be wrong.
Do you have to travel to Auschwitz to know that Hitler murdered Jews?
How about Russians and other Russian speaking people who used to live in Chechnya? They don't live there any longer. Did you ever ask yourself what happened to them? Do u even care? Do u even know what was going on in Chechnya BEFORE the war started in '94? And you don't have to travel to America to know that the best Indian was the dead Indian. How many of them survived? Now what?
republicans would have to go there before they would consider believing.
OK, Mr. History. How many Russians lived in Chechnya before the Treaty of Georgievsk?
denver bill 2 Those Chechens are terrorists, no sympathy for them. They also have their own Chechens anti-terrorism units doing the fight against Islamic radicals.
Good work.
I hope this is a sincere attempt to address the depredations of the Russian environment from the Soviet era, as well as an ingrained 'frontier attitude' towards Nature, and not just a Potemkin village-style show.
onesunfish:
What do you know of the Russian Federation and its environment?
I know that the Aral inland sea was completely sucked dry during the communist era to irrigate the cotton mono-crops, as well as other examples of top-down unaccountability and insensitivity that I've seen in documentaries. Of course, in Southern California the aptly named Mono Lake was also depleted in order to water the green lawns of Los Angeles and its suburbs, but we have a strong environmental ethic that is based on the citizenry.
What do you know of the Russian Federation and its environment Homer; enlighten me, or are you just a Putin apparatchik?
"Maybe it's just my turn, to crash and burn, fall from the sky".
(with apologies to Daryl Hall)
But, we can only hope.
Aw the splendor of God's creations. (not Putin)
Glorious Father Putin... wrestler of bears, breaker of boards with hand chops, shooter of tigers, savior of peasants, supporter of Al Qua... oops, never mind that... supporter of state sponsored media. Defender of the realm by imprisoning all who challenge the status quo.
And most recently flies with birds while another man wraps his legs around him from behind. Very manly this Putin is.
"The more I talk to people, the more I love dogs..."
WOW, what a people person!
Putin in pink? Oh that'd be the day.
This guys a joke. He watched too many movies. I'm surprised he didn't take his shirt off for this stunt also....lol
Молодец! Fly высокие и прямые.
Хорошо сказал, Гомер Adams.
Pretty gutsy guy.
Never really gave thought 1 to the guy before...........
(But you have another fan in the USA,President Putin!)
Not one person in 100 has the guts to do this!!!!!!!!!!
We fly like that every day, its a sport. Here in WV we have bridge day where they jump all day long. Enter the contest and if you win you get to jump tandem with a jumper. These people PAY to jump. Maybe Putin would like to try it!
Mr. Putin hasn't bought a thing with his own money since he became a politician.
Why is this making the US news? His track record of taking away civil liberties from the Russian people and his condoning of mass murders in Syria is news, not his publicity stunts.
Putin is kinda like Obama...he will do most anything to stroke his ego and his dreams of public adulation. Now, if the wannabe-czar could just learn how to do democracy....
You know, he might find out that the Russian people might even begin like him, who knows. But first, this man who has lived so long in the shadows, doing his work in conspiratorial secrecy, must overcome the insecurity that is the trademark of people that choose to work from behind a veil.
Putin has a grand opportunity to become as popular with the people as he seems to be with his cranes and hangers-on. He has to show some real manly macho by taking some chances with his people;come out from the shadows, stand up to scrutiny, bring in some fresh air to the Russian political scene: your people have had enough of authoritarian dictatorships...centuries of it.
Be a man, a real man, and face the electorate head on and win their support through competition, proving that you are not as insecure as most believe you are...staged macho infomercials and other types of propaganda will not help....your people want a real leader who is not afraid to compete on a level field to gain their support and love.
Russians...and most of the world...are really sick of propaganda because it assumes the recipient is little more than a fool.
Do it!
Curious Bob you are an idiot.
LIFE in Russia once again imitates the MOVIES; Similarly, DEMOCRACY in Russia imitates REALITY.
i havent seen Putin smile since his and W's last date.
Love of wildlife ? Last time I saw a photo of Putin he was half naked gun in hand out hunting.
why is he flying 'bitch' for. those things are easy to fly. the U.S. would just paint some drones white and let them do it. I think Putin wants to be a movie star. Ever since the photo op several years ago and the fat ugly russian women thought he was pretty with no shirt on he has wanted to be a movie star and have people swoon over him. Pres Obamie don't know what he wants to be yet. wanna be Pres Romney don't want to be Pres his wife wants him to.
That was done before in Canada, even a TV doc about it... with Canadian Geese. I seem to recall they had a bit of a problem with the US border and air base but managed to lead them to Florida. So I applaud Putin's efforts with the cranes although a large portion of viewers will see it as a commie plot.
There was a movie on this called "Fly Away Home".
VIVA PUTIN !!!!!!! and btw crush those opposition activists before their head get bigger and pussy riot fook those crazy bitches.
Russia sucks!!!!!!! lol
He's so flocked up. Wonder if he likes A Flock of Seagulls?