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Putin tells Oliver Stone he is pleased with work of his bodyguards

"I do my job. And the security officers do theirs and they are still performing quite successfully," Putin said

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

WASHINGTON, June 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone that he was the target of several assassination attempts and was pleased with the work of his bodyguards.

Duing the conversation, Stone told the Russian leader that he heard of at least five assassination attempts on Putin.

"Not as much as (Late Cuban leader Fidel) Castro, who I've interviewed. I think he must have had about 50. But there's a legitimate five I've heard about," Stone continued.

"Yes, I talked with Castro about that," the Russian president replied. "And he said to me, 'Do you know why I'm still alive?' I asked him, 'Why?' 'Because I was always the one to deal with my security personally.' But yeah, I do my job. And the security officers do theirs and they are still performing quite successfully."

"I trust them," Putin added.

Stone, in his turn, said that the first mode of an assassination is to "try to get inside the security of the president."

"I know that. Do you know what they say among the Russian people? They say that those who are destined to be hanged are not going to drown," Putin replied.

When asked whether Putin knew what his destiny was, the president replied: "Only God knows our destiny - yours and mine."

"One day this is going to happen to each and every one of us. The question is, what we will have accomplished by then in this transient world, whether we'll have enjoyed our life?" he continued.

Stone, a winner of several Academy Awards for "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July," has been filming "The Putin Interviews" over the course of the past two years. It is scheduled to start airing on CBS Showtime on Monday, June 12.

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