Artist Alexei Sergiyenko shows off his paintings of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the opening of the exhibition "Putin: The Most Kind-Hearted Man in the World" at the Flacon design workshop in Moscow on Sunday Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, left, stroll at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Government Press Service)
Mr. Putin wore a white crane costume for his flight, the latest in a series of stunts that have included diving for archaeological artifacts, later found to have been planted; riding a horse bare-chested; and flying a fighter jet. (Associated Press)
Russian President Vladimir Putin flies in a motorized hang glider alongside two Siberian white cranes on Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula. His flight was part of an effort to teach the endangered birds, raised in captivity, to follow the craft to their southern migration route to Central Asia. (Associated Press)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) is shown the contents of a media kit during a visit to the media center for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vladivostok, Russia, on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov speaks about his new book on the wealth of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
**FILE** Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (right) speaks Feb. 8, 2012, with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill during his meeting with Russia's religious leaders in the St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow. (Associated Press/RIA-Novosti, Yana Lapikova, Government Press Service)
In this photo taken with a cell phone, Madonna performs Aug. 7, 2012, during her concert at Olympic Hall in Moscow with the words "Pussy Riot," the band name of three feminist Russian rockers on trial for performing a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin, scrawled on her bare back. The singer has voiced hope that the three women are released soon. (Associated Press)