From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 7/10/2006 3:48 AM
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin during the Internet
 conference in the Kremlin, July 6, 2006
Photo: Dmitry Azarov

// Vladimir Putin answers questions from the Internet
Russian President Vladimir Putin answered questions from users of the Russian website Yandex and the British BBC site. BBC correspondent Bridget Kendall presented the questions from the BBC and Alexander Gurnov of Russia Today asked the Russian Internet users' questions. Hackers on Yandex asked the president an enormous number of times whether Russia would use giant robots for military purposes, how he feels about the reawakening of Cthulhu and when he first had sex, but they did not receive answers. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov came to the defense of the enquirying hackers.
The most common British questions were about the North Korean missiles that fell into Russian waters. He noted that North Korea does not have the technology to launch missiles to countries it may consider its enemies. Kendall asked about Iran and the G8 summit at length, clearly straying from the format of presenting users' questions.
The president chose questions about the army and raising pensions to answer and asked “why should we give away our gas resources for nothing?” in response to Kendall's question about the conflict with Ukraine. He suggested that referenda be held in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as he had done in Chechnya. He said that he was “the only one” or “almost the only one” to suggest that, since no one else believed that Chechnya wanted to remain part of Russia.
I suspect that the president engaged in conversation with Kendall so readily because he felt she was ambitious but weak and he could beat her on her own turf.
Gurnov finally asked the question that Russians really wanted to know: why the president kissed the little boy on the stomach.
He president was apparently expecting that question. He said that the meeting was unplanned. He saw the little boy in the Kremlin and went up to him. “What was his name? I don't remember any more,” the president said. “Nikita? Excellent!” The boy looked independent, serious, but somehow “defenseless,” the president said, and “very nice. I will say honestly that I wanted to squeeze him. That was why.”
Toward the end of the second hour, Putin was asked about the absence of free television and freedom in general in the country. He, unsurprisingly, did not agree that there was a lack of freedom and suggested that, instead of asking whether or not there is democracy in Russia, people should ask how to create more democracy in Russia.
Later I asked Kendall what she thought of the interview. She said she had spoken on air with Putin five years ago and that he had become more self-confident in the meantime.
After the interview was over, the president stayed at the table. Gurnov asked him if it had been interesting and received the required polite affirmation. The president talked about how he had never been a professional politician before becoming president. He said again that he would not change the Constitution to serve a third term in office (“If you love your country, you can't make it dependent on one person.”) and, in response to another question by Gurnov, said that loneliness was the fate of all politicians. He also said that he would “sincerely support the activities of opposition parties.”
I took up the cause of Internet users and asked the president about the reawakening of Cthulhu. He was clearly unfamiliar with H.P. Lovecraft's evil Great Old One. When I explained, he suggested reading the Bible, Talmud or Koran rather than the Cthulhu Mythos. To my amazement, the president confirmed that the military has robots and they both walk and fly. “Yes,” Putin said, “we will use the newest technological means.” When asked about the first time he had sex, the president replied he didn't remember it, but he did remember the last time.
by  Andrey Kolesnikov
All the Article in Russian as of July 07, 2006
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=527&id=688308