Amid four hours of intensive questioning on the economy and foreign policy, some quirky moments provided respite during President Vladimir Putin's annual Q&A marathon.
A Request for a Dog
A woman asked Putin to tell her friend's retired soldier husband, Boris, to allow her to buy her friend a dog as a 40th birthday present.
"Please just say to him: 'Boris, you're wrong! Let your wife have a dog!' We've already tried everything."
Putin joked that the husband would say "sort your own problems out first" in response to any order he could give, and that that would be a justified response.
Putin suggested to his petitioner that she ought to let the wife work her charm on Boris.
"We can work out an action plan of some kind. For example, the two of us together, you and I can ask Boris to go and meet with his wife, Yelena, and Yelena could say to him: 'No, I don't need a dog, I'll do what you like.' And then I'm sure that he would get her not only a dog but also an elephant, especially if she says it at the right time and in the right place. He might even promise her a fur coat."
When Does Putin Sleep?
A 4-year-old wannabe president from the city of Nalchik in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria asked how many hours' sleep Putin gets.
Putin's response: "It's great that you love sleeping. That means you'll be a good president."
We still don't know how much sleep Putin gets.
Burnt by the Sauna
Putin told listeners he had once invited ex-German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder to a Russian banya. The banya caught fire, but Schroder would only leave once he had finished his beer, Putin recalled. The banya burned down but no one was hurt.
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