MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Many Syrian families name their sons after Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian Ambassador to Moscow Riyad Haddad said at a meeting with Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Deputy Chairman Ilyas Umakhanov on Friday.

"When (Syrian President Bashar al-) Assad announced that Russian should become the second spoken language in Syria, he meant to thank the Russian people for their support. Besides, many Syrian families have been naming their sons Putin," the ambassador said.

In addition, according to the Syrian diplomat, Assad has provided land near Damascus free of charge to build a Russian school.