FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR CELEBRATES PUTIN’S BIRTHDAY IN MOSCOW
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder joined Vladimir Putin at the Russian leader’s home for his 74th birthday celebration on October 7.
The Kremlin says Putin learned through media reports that Schröder was in Moscow and invited his “old friend” to visit. Photographs of the two men together were later released by the Kremlin.
Schröder was reportedly in Russia for business after joining the supervisory board of Hyperglobus, a Russian supermarket operator that separated from Germany’s Globus group in 2025.
The 82-year-old former chancellor has maintained his personal relationship with Putin despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s attacks on European security and years of condemnation inside Germany over his work for Russian state-linked companies.
Schröder no longer represents the German government. His presence should not be mistaken for Germany’s position toward Russia or Ukraine.
But the timing is difficult to ignore. While Schröder celebrated inside Putin’s home, Ukraine was recovering from a Russian attack that killed at least 32 people—including five children buried beneath the ruins of their home in Pryluky.
Putin received birthday congratulations from an old German friend while Ukrainian families received confirmation that their loved ones would never return home.