Vladimir Putin 'enjoys holiday with former Italian premier in Altai Mountains'

The Altai Mountains are one of Siberia's treasures and are surprisingly little-known to travellers from the outside world. 

The Russian president flew in for a short vacation on 26 June after inspecting reconstruction work from wildfire damage in the the nearby Republic of Khakassia, which killed 32 people and destroyed 1,300 residential buildings, reported local news agencies.

Soon after, Silvio Berlusconi's  Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft landed at Gorno-Altaisk airport, it was reported. 

No pictures were initially issued of Putin and his guest but it was stated that they stayed at the Gazprom-owned resort  'Altaiskoye  Podvorye' (Altai Courtyard).

They went fishing, walked along the bank of the Katun river, enjoyed local Altai cuisine, and watched a performance of the Altai national dance team, it was reported.

Leyla Malchieva, dance team choreographer, wrote on her page in Vkontakte: 'We (the national dance team Ursul) today performed for the Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Italian prime minister Berlusconi. 

'We showed them four Altai dances ('Kuljachylar' - Altai round dance, 'Oh-oh-ym', 'Altai bije' and dance 'Riders'). They came up to us, greeted everyone at the beginning of the concert.

'After the concert, Vladimir Vladimirovich thanked and praised us, and even said 'Bravo!' during the dance 'Oi-oi-ym'. We are delighted with our president.'

Originally they were due to perform a day earlier, but did not know who for. 

'Early in the morning we went back to Putin's residence. We had been waiting for about three hours, and then we were told to prepare to perform. We dressed in our costumes and were waiting for the guest's arrival. 

'Then, Vladimir Vladimirovich came on a boat,got into a car, and drove (by himself) to the site. Immediately he came to the artists, shook hands with us, greeted us and Berlusconi, and then they sat down in the chairs and we began to perform.' 

The plush residence stands at the confluence of the rivers Katun and Ursul, with total area of about 3000 square metres.

Its construction in the pristine mountains attracted controversy several years ago amid claims that Scythian and Hun-Sarmatian graves were destroyed so it could be built.