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" Photo by AFP Full Disclosure: Part of the trip is in a decadent Jeep SUV. The Russian Prime Minister\u2014and ex-President/ex-KGB spy\u2014Vladimir Putin is celebrating completion of a brand new highway in the vast Russian far east with a 1300-mile trip from Khabarovsk to Chita in Siberia. Displaying his confidence in the struggling Avtovaz automaker, he&amp;#039;s driving part of the way in a Lada Kalina. However, he&amp;#039;s spending time as well traveling in a decadent Jeep SUV as part of the convoy. A blizzard of publicity is part of all this, one photo showing Mr. Putin, in casual polo shirt and shades, as he refuels the car at a self-serve. As quoted in Telegraph.co.uk, Mr. Putin said, &amp;quot;Our country, the largest in the world, has never in its history\u2014never\u2014been completely joined up by highways. Finally we have done it.&amp;quot; The highway, some five decades in the making, allows travel across Russia in a continuous network of roads, something hitherto impossible. I checked this out with Google Maps, only to learn &amp;quot;We could not calculate directions between Russian Federation, Region of Khabarovsk and Russia, Chita Oblast.&amp;quot; I suspect there&amp;#039;s little chance of a wrong turn, once you&amp;#039;re out of town. It&amp;#039;s noteworthy, however, that the route is anything but a straight line: There&amp;#039;s a good chunk of northern China that has to be driven around. The drive follows up on other activities of this adventure-prone prime minister, including shooting whales with a crossbow, piloting an amphibious fire-fighting plane and riding a Harley-Davidson trike with a gang of leather-clad bikers. No related posts. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a1392/prime-minister-putin-does-1300-mile-lada-drive-15410/>