An incident in 2013 Mr Vladimir Putin He cut out the heart of a deer and gave it to Silvio Berlusconi, one of the late Cavalier’s closest associates recalled in an interview published in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The Russian president later took Berlusconi hunting and the two vacationed together at his dacha, said Fabrizio Ciccito, a former senator from Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.
According to Politico, Cicciotto recalled Berlusconi saying after returning from Russia, “Vladimir showed me a violent nature that I never imagined in such a kind and fair man.
The two claimed to be close friends, with Berlusconi defending Putin after his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Russian president describing the media mogul-turned-politician as a “true friend” after his death last June.
According to Cicchito, Berlusconi accepted Putin’s suggestion that they go hunting, even though he had never touched a gun in his life. When they reached the forest, the Russian president gave Berlusconi a gun and they walked together through the snow.
When Putin spotted two deer, he urged Berlusconi to mark them. “It’s yours. Shoot,” Putin told Berlusconi, Sigito said. When the Italian politician refused, Putin appeased him by shooting both deer.
Then Putin walked down the slope holding a knife. He cut open a deer and took out its heart. He then had a man in his entourage hand Berlusconi a wooden plate on which he placed a bloody piece of meat, saying it would make a great meal.
Berlusconi hid behind a tree to vomit.
Even then, Italy’s former prime minister defended his friend. “Maybe it’s a hunter’s habit,” Siquito recalled Cavalier saying.
