Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi and Yury Lyubimov, art director of the Moscow Taganka Theatre, welcomed the Russian leader in the theatre’s foyer. Mr Lyubimov said he was not surprised by the President’s choice of this play because Mr Putin’s generation had known Vysotsky and his songs. Mr Lyubimov also said Vladimir Putin was the first Russian leader to visit Taganka and to watch one of its plays.