Overview

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin spent the day working, fielding foreign calls and preparing to meet the Russian Security Council.
• Public birthday messages came from leaders seen as friendly to Moscow, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and Turkmenistan’s Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have called the Russian leader, though details of the conversation were not disclosed.
• Pro-Kremlin officials issued orchestrated praise, and exiled outlet Agenstvo reported that officials were instructed to post congratulatory messages on VKontakte listing Putin’s achievements.
• Putin’s birthdays have been low-key since the 2022 invasion, as scrutiny of his health persists, with Peskov saying he sleeps only a few hours and prior reports noting his interest in life-extension and his eligibility to remain in office until 2036.