Reuters
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shows a tiger cub to journalists at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow October 9, 2008.
Without a definitive explanation from the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan amid swirling rumors.
Putin rarely goes unnoticed after a year during which Russia annexed the multi-ethnic peninsula Crimea, engineered a civil war in Ukraine, and signed off on the world's largest construction project.
The Kremlin sets up elaborate photo ops to prove that Putin is the type of man with whom not to mess with.
Walter Hickey and Geoff Ingersoll contributed to this report.