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Putin has truck driver’s license, his spokesman says

Earlier on Tuesday Putin drove a Kamaz truck at the head of a convoy of construction vehicles along the Crimean Bridge

© Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is licensed to drive heavy trucks, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS, when asked if the president had the right to take a seat at the wheel of a Kamaz truck for a ride along the Crimean Bridge at the dedication ceremony on Tuesday.

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Start your engines: Putin driving truck, opens newly-built Crimean Bridge

"The president does have a C category mark in his driving license [which allows him to drive vehicles having a mass of more than 3.5 tonnes]," Peskov said. "He obtained it a long time ago - twenty years or so."

Earlier on Tuesday Putin drove a Kamaz truck at the head of a convoy of construction vehicles along the newly-built bridge after having a quick word with a group of construction workers.

Putin is known to drive automobiles himself from time to time during working trips about the country. In 2010, when he held the post of Russia’s prime minister, Putin traveled several hundred kilometers along the Chita-Khabarovsk road in a Lada-Kalina car. And in 2005 he drove a truck after a meeting with members of the Kamas-Master racing team.

The Crimean Bridge will open to traffic in both directions on Wednesday, May 16.

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