MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin’s former bodyguard, who recently has been appointed regional governor, said he once confronted a bear outside of Putin’s residence.
Alexei Dyumin, 43 told the daily Kommersant in an interview published Tuesday that he was on duty while Putin was asleep at a presidential residence when he saw a bear standing at its glass doors.
“We looked each other in the eyes, he stepped back a bit. I opened the door and unloaded the entire cartridge of my pistol under his legs,” he said. “I felt pity for the bear.”
Dyumin said the animal retreated, and Putin later praised him for sparing the bear.
When Putin appointed Dyumin last week as the acting governor of the Tula region south of Moscow, many commentators speculated it’s an interim step in his quick ascent. Some even claimed that Putin could be grooming the burly general as his successor, the allegation that appears dubious as the Russian president so far hasn’t signaled any intentions to step down after his current term ends in 2018.