Up to 100,000 people have taken part in a birthday celebration rally in honor of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Chechnya's capital of Grozny, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Tuesday. The rally was launched at Minutka Square later moving on to Akhmad Kadyrov Avenue in Grozny, where "up to 100,000 Chechens attended the celebration", a spokesman for the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs told RIA Novosti. The participants carried 600 meter Russian and Chechen flags chanting "Russia!", "Chechnya!" The celebration will conclude with a birthday concert and Chechen folk dancing. This year, on October 7, Vladimir Putin celebrates his 62nd birthday. According to presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Russia leader took a day off and left for the Siberian taiga to mark his birthday.
