A female “soldier” honored by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his Recent Yr’s message has popped up in photos with the leader before — as an ice-cream vendor, an angler and a Christmastime parishioner.
The blonde, who was clad in fatigues and feted with other reputed soldiers within the dictator’s holiday broadcast, is an everyday fixture at Putin’s public appearances, Sibir.Realii, a media outlet tied to Radio Liberty, reported on the messaging app Telegram.
“In September 2016, the president was photographed on a lake within the Novgorod region with fishermen – she was amongst them,” Sibir.Realii posted.
She was identified as Larisa Sergukhina on the time.
The lady also was among the many group of parishioners around Putin in 2017 at an Eastern Orthodox Christmas service in a Novgorod monastery and known as Sergukhina, the outlet said.
At the very least two of the “anglers” previously with the girl were also depicted as “parishioners” on the service, photos show — leading some observers to invest they’re all actors used for cringe-worthy staged photo ops with Putin or else a poor try and disguise his security detail.
The lady was also seen on two other occasions — in 2017 and 2019 — “selling” ice cream to Putin at a Moscow air show.
Because the British tabloid The Sun reported in 2019, Putin overpaid for his ice cream by greater than 4,000 rubles — roughly $60 — and told the blonde to present the change to the air minister for the “development of aviation.”
On the time, Kremlin watchers opined that the girl was likely a member of Putin’s protective service, working under cover to assist the Russian president look like mingling with average Russians.
At this 12 months’s Recent Yr’s broadcast, the girl was identified as a Russian army medic, Anna Sidorenko. She stood behind Putin together with her supposed comrades in combat fatigues during a message in regards to the war in Ukraine.
Within the speech, Putin vowed to defend Russia’s “historical territory” — a reference to his assertion that Ukraine is just not an independent nation.
Putin also blamed the war on Ukraine’s Western allies.
“The West lied about peace,” he said. “It was preparing for aggression. … And now they’re cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and split Russia.”
Putin has often pushed the speculation that NATO and the European Union sought to threaten Russia by supporting Ukrainian moves to hitch the European community.
Despite a 12 months of unexpected failures by Russian troops — and a bloody stalemate along the front lines in eastern Ukraine — Putin’s predictions were optimistic.
“Together, we’ll overcome all difficulties and preserve our country’s greatness and independence,” he said.
“We are going to triumph, for our families and for Russia.”
With Post wires