Alexsey Druginyn / Kremlin Pool - RIA Novosti via EPA

The Kremlin today released a series of photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin gamboling in the snow with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his countryside residence outside Moscow.

Buffy, a Karakachan Bulgarian shepherd, was presented to Putin by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov in 2010. A 5-year-old boy was reported to have won a competition to find a name for the dog.

Yume, an Akita Inu, was gifted to Putin by Japan's Akita Prefecture as thanks for Russia's help during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Yume, whose name means "Dream" in Japanese, will be one year old on April 24, according to Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

Putin's love of dogs is well-documented, and it is even said that he has used his Labrador, Koni, to intimidate German Chancellor Angela Merkel during negotiations.

Editor's note:  This post has been corrected to reflect that these photos were taken on March 24, and not as previously stated on April 10. They were released by the Kremlin today.

Alexsey Druginyn / Kremlin Pool - RIA Novosti via EPA

Vladimir Putin walks with Buffy at his countryside residence, Novo-Ogariovo, on March 24, 2013.

Alexsey Druginyn / Kremlin Pool - RIA Novosti via Reuters

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Putin takes to sky to lead flight of cranes

Vladimir Putin, your friendly local dentist

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:02 PM EDT

Dmitry Astakhov / Ria Novosti via Reuters

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stands in his office in Moscow on April 9, 2013, before an interview with a Russian television channel.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin continued a European trip marked by protest, his successor as Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was left looking rather wistful at his office back in Moscow Tuesday.

Since Putin and Medvedev swapped jobs in May last year, the latter has found himself out of the limelight and has even found time to indulge his passion for photography.

NPR's Moscow correspondent Corey Flintoff reported earlier this month that Medvedev appears increasingly isolated from the center of power and may have been the target of a campaign to wreck his reputation.

Putin, who was confronted by topless protesters in Germany on Monday, faced further demonstrations in the Netherlands, where 1,000 gay rights activists waved pink and orange balloons and blasted out dance music to condemn Russia's treatment of homosexuals. 

AFP - Getty Images, RIA Novosti via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a busy day Monday: (clockwise from top left) Sitting in a Volkswagen XL 1 Hybrid car in Hanover, Germany; laughing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel; arriving at Schiphol airport in The Netherlands; drinking a toast with Dutch Queen Beatrix at the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam.

Robin Utrecht / EPA

Demonstrators participate in a protest near the National Maritime Museum, where Putin was having dinner, in Amsterdam on April 8, 2013. The protesters were denouncing a so-called 'homosexual propaganda ban' in Russia which was enacted in January.

Previously on PhotoBlog: On holiday with Putin and Medvedev

Jochen Luebke / EPA

An eye-opening experience for Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) as he is confronted by a topless demonstrator during a tour of the Hanover Fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 8, 2013. He was accompanied by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center right) and Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn (extreme right).

Russian President Vladimir Putin laughed off a protest against him by topless women in Germany on Monday, joking that he liked what he had seen while sharply rebuffing German criticism of his human rights record.

Three members of the women's rights group Femen, which has staged protests against Russia's detention of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot around Europe, disrupted his visit to a trade fair in the German city of Hanover focusing on Russian business.

They stripped to the waist and shouted slogans calling the Russian leader a "dictator" before being covered up and bundled away by security men.

Julian Schultenschulte / EPA

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchange glances after the incident involving topless demonstrators.

Jochen Luebke / EPA

Security staff stop another topless demonstrator at the Volkswagen stand at the Hanover Fair.

"Regarding this performance, I liked it," grinned Putin at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding that it had helped to promote the trade fair though he suggested that the security men could have been "gentler".

"I did not catch what they were shouting, I did not even see if they were blondes, brunettes or chestnut-haired ... I don't see anything terrible in (the protest), though I think ... it is better to be dressed if one wants to discuss political matters." Read the full story.

Jochen Luebke / AFP - Getty Images

A demonstrator is held by security staff.

Related:

Topless feminist confronts Russian patriarch

Putin awards biker buddy 'The Surgeon' with medal

Putin takes to sky to lead flight of cranes

This story was originally published on Mon Apr 8, 2013 9:12 AM EDT

Mikhail Klimentyev / AFP - Getty Images

Russia's President Vladimir Putin looks at the leader of Nochniye Volki (the Night Wolves) biker group, Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as Khirurg (the Surgeon), after awarding him at a meeting with members of the Military History Society in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, on March 14.

Mikhail Klimentyev / AFP - Getty Images

Russia's President Vladimir Putin hands a medal to the leader of Nochniye Volki (the Night Wolves) biker group, Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as Khirurg (the Surgeon).

Sergei Karpukhin / AFP - Getty Images, file

Vladimir Putin, then Russian Prime Minister, rides a Harley Davidson Lehman Trike together with the leader of Nochniye Volki (the Night Wolves) biker group, Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as Khirurg (the Surgeon), during Putin's visit to Russian and Ukrainian motorbikers at their camp near Sevastopol in Ukraine's Crimea, on July 24, 2009.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin awarded a medal to Alexander 'the Surgeon' Zaldostanov, the leader of the Nochniye Volki (Night Wolves) biker group. He presented 'the Surgeon' with the medal after meeting with the Military History Society on Thursday in Moscow. As prime minister, Putin visited the Nochniye Volki's club in 2009 before they participated in a bike show. Putin has since made public appearances with 'the Surgeon' each year, going out for rides together on their bikes.

Related links:

• What did Putin say? Photo sparks online speculation
• Russian Orthodox Church apologizes for photoshopping patriarch's expensive watch
• Russia's Putin takes to sky to lead flight of cranes

Artur Levedev / sochinskie-novosti.ru / Reuters

Tatyana Samokhval, left, daughter of local resident Sergei Khlystov, embraces her crying mother Valentina Khlystova in front of their partially demolished house in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Russia. The workers arrived at Sergei Khlystov's gate on a Friday evening to bulldoze his home and clear a path for sewage pipes to the Olympic village being built in the Russian city of Sochi. Khlystov and his 33-year-old son-in-law, Maxim Samokhval, at first tried to block the bulldozers but then stood aside and watched as the two-storey house was destroyed. The earthmovers ended Khlystov's battle to stay in his house, one of the last razed in the Mirny neighbourhood to make way for the Winter Olympics in 2014. Picture taken Sept. 19.

For President Vladimir Putin, the Games are a prestige project that will allow him to showcase Russia's ability to organize major events and boost its international image.

He regards the event as an important element of his new presidential term as well as a chance for the country, which will also host the 2018 World Cup soccer finals, to show off its sporting prowess.

New homes are being provided for Sochi residents displaced by the reconstruction of their town. But such is the importance attached to the Olympic project that people who don't want to move have no option but to get out of the way of the bulldozers.

-- Reported by Reuters

Read the full story.

Artur Levedev / sochinskie-novosti.ru / Reuters

An excavator demolishes a house, owned by the Khlystov family, in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Russia.

Alexsey Druginyn / Kremlin - Ria Novosti via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at a crane as he sits in a motorised deltaplane in the Yamalo-Nenets district on September 5, 2012.

Alexei Druzhinin / AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin flies in a motorized hang glider alongside two Siberian white cranes, on the Yamal Peninsula, in Russia Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012.

NBC News staff and wire services reports: MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin took his love of wildlife to new heights Wednesday by flying with endangered cranes to help lead them on a migration route.

Putin donned a baggy white costume with a spacious helmet and goggles and was shown in media reports flying with a copilot in a motorized deltaplane light aircraft. Putin flew a test flight followed by two flights with the cranes, Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported. Continue reading the full story.

AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin, (foreground) flies in a motorized hang glider alongside two Siberian white cranes.

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Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at an awards ceremony for Russia's Olympians in Moscow's Kremlin on Aug. 15.

Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin poses for a picture with the national synchronized swimming team during an awards ceremony for Russia's Olympians in Moscow's Kremlin on Aug. 15.

Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with volleyball player Dmitry Muserskiy during an awards ceremony for Russia's Olympians in Moscow's Kremlin on Aug. 15.

See more images of Vladimir Putin on PhotoBlog.

Related links:

• Olympians return to all corners of the earth bruised, triumphant and laden with gold
• From javelins to light fixtures: Olympic sell-off
• After Olympics boost, it's austerity for Britons
• Video: Take a virtual tour of Sochi, the next Olympic host city
• View more photos of the Olympics on PhotoBlog

Slideshow: Olympic Emotional Moments

Bernd Thissen/EPA

Click for more from the 2012 summer games in London.

Launch slideshow

Alexey Druzhinin / Pool via AFP - Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle during his visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the old city of Jerusalem on June 26.

Alexei Druzhinin / RIA-Novosti via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, listens to the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, right, during a visit to the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem, June 26.

Debbie Hill / Pool via Getty Images

Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Israeli leader's Jerusalem residence on June 25, in Israel.

Jim Hollander / Pool via EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chat after delivering joint statements following their meeting and lunch in Netanyahu's residence, in Jerusalem, June 25.

Majdi Mohammed / AP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have their picture taken with Palestinian children in traditional clothes during a welcoming ceremony prior to their meeting in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, June 26.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is on his first Middle East tour in seven years, which began with a trip to Jerusalem. Putin met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday where the main topics were the crisis in Syria and Iran's nuclear plans.  Sanctions on Iran should be increased, Netanyahu said, and demands enhanced regarding its nuclear program. Netanyahu told a news conference in Jerusalem that Israel and Russia agreed that Iranian nuclear proliferation posed a threat to Israel and the world. Russia hosted the latest talks with Iran earlier this month which failed to produce any commitments. Putin’s visit was scheduled to coincide with the inauguration of the national monument honoring Soviet Red Army soldiers killed in World War II.

On Tuesday, Putin met with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Bethlehem and visited the Church of the Nativity. Putin's meeting with Abbas was expected to focus on the deadlock over restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that has been on hold for almost four years. Putin will travel next to Jordan, where he will meet King Abdullah.

Story: Netanyahu urges action on Iran after meeting Putin

Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

Opposition members march in Moscow on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Tens of thousands of Russians flooded Moscow's tree-lined boulevards Tuesday in the first massive protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule since his inauguration, as investigators sought to raise the heat on the opposition by summoning some of its leaders for questioning just an hour before the march.

Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

A participant holds a T-shirt referring to Article 31 of the Russian constitution, which guarantees the right of assembly, during an anti-government protest in Moscow on June 12, 2012.

Reuters reports — Thousands of Russians chanted "Russia will be free" in a march through Moscow on Tuesday to protest against President Vladimir Putin, shrugging off his tough new tactics intended to quash any challenge to his rule.

More images of protest in Russia on PhotoBlog

"Those who fought are beyond being scared," said Valery Zagovny, a 50-year-old who served for the Soviet army in Afghanistan and was wearing the medals to prove it. "Let those behind the red-toothed walls of the Kremlin be scared." Read the full story.

Follow @msnbc_pictures

Alexander Nemenov / AFP - Getty Images

Opposition activists rally in Moscow on June 12, 2012.

Ria Novosti via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an awards ceremony for achievements in culture and science in Moscow's Kremlin on June 12, 2012.

Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

Riot police form a line as opposition members march in central Moscow on June 12, 2012.

Vladimir Rodionov / Pool via AFP - Getty Images

Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin walks down Andreyevsky (St.Andrew's ) Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow May 7, as he arrives to take his oath of office and become Russia's president for a historic third mandate at a glittering ceremony inside the Kremlin.

Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP - Getty Images

Russian people march along a street during an opposition's protest rally in Moscow on May 6. Russian riot police violently clashed with protesters at a rally on the eve of Vladimir Putin's return for a third Kremlin term, arresting over 400 people including opposition leaders.

Alexander Zemlianichenko / Pool via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin and former President Dmitry Medvedev, right, during the inauguration ceremony at the Cathedral Square in the Kremlin in Moscow, May 7. Vladimir Putin took the oath, saying he considers "service to the fatherland and our nation to be the meaning of my life."

Andrey Smirnov / AFP -Getty Images

Russian Police officers detain opposition supporters during a rally in Moscow on May 6.

By msnbc.com staff and news services: MOSCOW --  Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia's president at a glittering ceremony on Monday, hours after clashes between police and thousands of protesters in the country's capital laid bare the deep divisions over his return to the Kremlin for six more years. 

In the latest demonstrations on Sunday, police detained more than 400 people, including three opposition leaders, after tensions boiled over at a rally attended by about 20,000 people across the Moscow river from the Kremlin. 

Putin, a former KGB spy, took his oath before nearly 2,000 guests in the Kremlin's St Andrew Hall, the former throne room with sparkling chandeliers, gilded pillars and high Gothic vaults, before being blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and taking charge of the nuclear suitcase.  Full story.

Ivan Sekretarev / AP

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who claimed victory in Russia's presidential election, tears up as he reacts at a massive rally of his supporters at Manezh square outside the Kremlin on March 4, 2012.

Msnbc.com news services report — His eyes brimming with tears, Vladimir Putin defiantly proclaimed to a sea of supporters that they had triumphed over opponents intent on "destroying Russia's statehood and usurping power."

Putin said the presidential election, which official figures said he had won with more than 63 percent of the vote, had prevented Russia from falling into the hands of enemies. Complaining of widespread fraud, his opponents said they would rally near the Kremlin on Monday night.

Monitors cited "serious problems" with the vote and called for alleged electoral violations in Sunday's election to be thoroughly investigated.

See more images of Vladimir Putin on PhotoBlog.

Maxim Shipenkov / EPA

People look at the screen providing images from a network of surveillance webcams installed at polling stations all over the country at Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) in Moscow on March 4, 2012.