MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith said at a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Thursday that he planned to gift Russia a pair of elephants on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
This gift from the Laotian leader marks the second time the Russian president has been presented with elephants. In 2024, Myanmar Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing sent Putin six baby elephants, which were later transported to the Moscow Zoo.
TASS has summarized key facts about Putin’s pets.
Connie, a black female Labrador Retriever, who was trained as a search and rescue dog, was presented to Vladimir Putin as a gift by Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu in 2000. Connie often accompanied Putin during his meetings with world leaders who visited Russia. In 2003 Connie gave birth to eight puppies, all of which were given away. The dog is depicted in Connie’s Stories, a children’s book in English. She died aged 15 in 2014.
Buffy, a caramel and white Karakachan shepherd puppy, was given to Putin during his visit to Bulgaria in 2010 by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. A nationwide contest was held to choose the name for the dog and the winner, a five-year-old boy from Moscow, was later invited to Putin’s residence to play with Buffy.
