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Vladimir Putin celebrates birthday on ice in celebrity hockey match

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, spent his 63rd birthday on the ice Wednesday, 0ctober 7, playing hockey with NHL stars and various Russian officials and tycoons in Sochi. For years, Russia’s leader has cultivated a populist image in the Russian Media.

After his warships fired cruise missiles at targets in Syria on Wednesday, Vladimir Putin shot pucks into the net at an ice hockey game on his 63rd birthday.

Hours after the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said at a meeting with Putin that Russia’s fleet had launched 26 cruise missiles at Islamic State targets in Syria, the pair joined former NHL stars and Kremlin-linked oligarchs for a match in Sochi that was broadcast live on national television.

The game was one of many celebrations around the country as Russia was gripped with Putin birthday mania on Wednesday.

Repeatedly fed the puck by hockey legends such as Vyacheslav Fetisov, Putin scored seven goals and led his all-star team to a 15-10 victory over their opponents from an amateur hockey league he founded in 2011. Shoigu also scored a goal. “Happy birthday!” the crowd chanted.

The match will bring Putin’s average down slightly after the last time he played in May, when he scored eight of the all-star team’s 18 goals.