The president of Belarus gave him a tractor. The leader of Tajikistan presented him with a pile of watermelons. Ukrainians bestowed a birthday wish on Vladimir V. Putin of Russia: that it would be his last.
Putin's private life is shrouded in secrecy, and he spent his 70th birthday with little public celebration, meeting with leaders from Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — in St. Petersburg, where he was born, for an informal summit of post-Soviet countries. He received calls from a list of world leaders, including Kazakhstan, Turkey, Cuba, South Africa, Kyrgyyzstan and South Africa.
His birthday was met with widespread condemnation of him in Ukraine. The Nobel Peace Prize committee, in a message to Mr. Putin, gave its award to human rights activists from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.
Countless memes denounced the Russian president. Some Ukrainian activists urged supporters to give a donation to provide weapons to the Ukrainian military. Political leaders and local leaders lashed out at the Russian leader on social media.