&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Flowers, hug, dinner: Putin's rare gesture for his former German teacher goes VIRAL - VIDEO")
Russian President Vladimir Putin reunited with his former German language teacher Vera Dmitriyevna Gurevich during a special evening in Moscow this week. The Russian president warmly greeted his elderly teacher with a bouquet of flowers before embracing her in a heartfelt hug. His gesture drew attention online and the video of the incident went viral. Users on social media praised his emotional and human touch. Putin had invited his former teacher to attend the recently concluded Victory Day Parade. The video was shared by Kremlin.
According to the video, Putin spent time speaking with her privately and later took her out for dinner, reflecting on memories from his school years in what appeared to be a nostalgic reunion. In another notable gesture, the Russian president personally escorted and drove her straight to the Kremlin afterward, underlining the respect and gratitude he continues to hold for the woman who once taught him German during his childhood in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg.
The rare public display offered a softer glimpse into Putin’s personal life amid global political tensions.
Born in 1952, Putin grew up in post-war Leningrad, experiencing what is often described as difficult and scrappy childhood. The Russian president is fluent in German, a skill acquired during his time as a KGB intelligence officer in Dresden, East Germany, from 1985 to 1990. He has demonstrated this proficiency in public, including a 2001 speech to the German Bundestag, and occasionally speaks German in meetings to discuss specific matters. Many years ago in 2005, a video of Putin reuniting with his former high school German teacher, Mina Yuditskaya-Berliner, during a state visit to Israel had also gone viral.
