Russia’s action-man Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pulled on a wetsuit Wednesday and went scuba diving at the site of a Greek ruin — and found two ancient jars, Russian media reported.
Russian news agencies said Putin — a novice only attempting his third scuba dive — managed to discover two jars dating back to the sixth century during his expedition in the southern Russian coast near Ukraine.
The reports said Putin had only descended two meters (6.6 feet) and discovered the objects in full presence of the media because the water was so clear.
Television footage showed two moss-covered vases with ear-like handles sitting neatly next to each other on top of the sandy bottom as Putin swam into view.
“Treasure!” a dripping wet Putin told reporters with a big grin. “They drank it all already,” he added when asked if there was anything left in the jars.
“The head of the expedition said they are from the sixth century AD,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying. This would date them to the time of the early Byzantine era.
“When the ships were being loaded at the port, the jars would often break and then they would get tossed overboard,” Russia’s de-facto leader explained.
Putin’s expedition took him to the Krasnodar region’s Taman Peninsula — home to the Phanagoria colony founded by the Greeks some 2,500 years ago and invaded by the ancient Rus in the 10th century.
(source: AFP)
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