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Kim Jong Un first leader to get Aurus car from Putin

The president of Turkmenistan also has an Aurus, but he purchased his

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Yuri Smitiuk/TASS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

© Yuri Smitiuk/TASS

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is the first leader to receive a Russian Aurus executive car as a gift.

According to TASS, the president of Turkmenistan also has an Aurus, but he purchased his.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin presented leader Kim Jong Un with a Russian-made car. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to TASS that the DPRK leader received an Aurus car.

Putin himself has been riding in a domestic Aurus Senat limousine since 2018, as the limo brought him to his presidential inauguration ceremony on May 7, 2018. Many high-ranking guests have seen the car, including leaders of CIS countries, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Meanwhile, Kim Jong Un saw the limousine last September at the Vostochny Spaceport.

In 2019, then Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev showed off a white Aurus Senat limousine to then head of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. After the demonstration, Berdimuhamedov said that Ashgabat intended to buy an entire fleet of executive Aurus. On June 10, 2022, a source close to the Turkmen government told TASS that the republic had purchased the first car. Berdimuhamedov used it during his visit to Russia on June 10, 2022.

In August 2019, Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspected a Russian Ansat helicopter in a representative modification with an Aurus cabin at the International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky near Moscow. When the Turkish leader inquired about the cost of the aircraft, the Russian side named the sum of $8 million, taking into account that the Aurus automobile "will be given as a gift." Turkey's purchase of a helicopter and receiving a limousine were not reported.

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