Russian President Vladimir Putin cut out the heart of a deer and gave it to former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, it has been claimed.
A close ally of Berlusconi, who died in June last year, said the incident happened in 2013 when Putin took his Italian counterpart on a hunting trip near one of his dachas.
Fabrizio Cicchitto, a former senator from Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera Sunday: “Vladimir showed me a violent nature that I didn’t imagine in such a kind and rational man.”
Putin and Berlusconi reportedly had a close relationship when they were leaders of their respective countries.
Berlusconi even backed Putin after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When the former Italian leader died last year, Putin called him a “true friend.”
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Cicchitto claimed that Berlusconi went hunting with Putin despite having never even touched a rifle before. Putin supposedly pointed to a deer and told Berlusconi: “That’s yours. Shoot.”
Berlusconi refused to shoot, so Putin killed both the deer. He then cut out the heart of one of the deer and had one of his staff give it to Berlusconi on a tray as a meal.
Cicchitto claims Berlusconi then hid behind a tree to throw up. Berlusconi chaulked the incident up to a “hunter’s custom.”
Putin has used peculiar psychological ploys to intimidate other leaders in the past.
Arguably his most notorious stunt was his decision to bring a black labrador to a meeting with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had a well-documented fear of dogs having been attacked by one in her youth.
At points during the exchange, the dog called Koni walked up close to Merkel, who was visibly uncomfortable throughout.
Merkel told reporters after the 2007 meeting: “I understand why he has to do this – to prove he is a man.
“He is afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.”