Putin arrives at Sochi National Park's leopard nursery ahead of IOC session.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently paying a working visit to Sochi, has arrived Tuesday at the Persian Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Center at Sochi National Park. The head of state intends to personally get to grips with the situation at the nursery and find out details of living conditions of its inhabitants.

To date, four baby leopards were born at Sochi National Park. Two of them are two years old while two others are only over seven months old. Only a sixth-month cub called Grom ("thunder" in English) has its own name. The others have only been given nicknames.

Persian leopards no longer occur in the Western Caucasus.

In 2009, Vladimir Putin initiated a program to restore the Persian leopard population in the Caucasus.

Later on, Vladimir Putin is to hold the IOC session.

Russian president to address IOC session, inspect Olympic village infrastructure in Sochi

Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the opening meeting of the 126th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. Ahead of the opening ceremony for the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Putin will visit some of the facilities built for the event, will inspect the infrastructure of the Olympic village and will meet with athletes from Russia's national team, the Kremlin press service has reported.

"On February 5, the president of Russia will visit the Olympic village on the seashore and will attend a welcoming ceremony for the Russian Olympic Committee's delegation, during which a flag of the Russian Federation will be raised," the press service said.

Putin's trip to Sochi will also see a number of his bilateral meetings with foreign guests.

"On February 6, the president will hold negotiations with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping," it said.

Arrangements have also been made for Putin's meetings with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Apart from that, Putin is expected to meet with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz leader Almazbek Atambayev and other foreign leaders.

"The highlight of the trip will be the opening by the Russian president of the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The opening ceremony is due to begin at 8:14 pm Moscow time on February 7," the press service said.

The Olympics opening ceremony will be watched live by 40,000 spectators at Sochi's Fisht stadium, as well as by more than three billion people worldwide.

"More than 40 heads of state and government will attend the ceremony," the press service said.

About 60 foreign leaders are planning to visit the Olympic and Paralympic events in Sochi.

Putin has taken the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games under personal control. He had started the pre-Olympic marathon years before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to Russia in 2007.

In a film titled "The Philosophy of the Soft Way" the fragments of which were recently shown on the Rossiya RV channel, Putin said that he personally chose a place for the future Olympics when he arrived in the Sochi mountains, where skiing runs and ski-jumps were now located, in an UAZ auto in the early 2000s. A lot of things have improved in Sochi since then. According to Putin, "southern Russia is transforming." In recent years, Putin has visited Sochi, which is also known as "Russia's southern capital," several times a year to personally inspect the construction sites and other preparations.

The brilliantly held Olympic Games are the only result that’s going to suit President Putin. He also hopes that the transformed resort town of Sochi will stay "for centuries".