Putin, Medvedev visit international combat sambo tournament in Sochi

President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appeared at the international combat sambo tournament in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Saturday, August 17. This is not the first time Putin attends such events in Sochi. This year’s Platform S-70 competition is the fourth one organised by the Sambo-70 and League S-70 educational centres, bringing together athletes from across Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, South Africa and other countries. The day's main event will be a duel between Vyacheslav Vasilevsky of Russia and Trevor Prangley of South Africa, who has won many bright victories in various martial arts. Vasilevsky, Russia’s 2013 combat sambo champion, won the national mixed martial arts (MMA) championship organised last year by League S-70. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Russian president’s special representative to the Southern Federal District Vladimir Ustinov, Fyodor Yemelyanenko, multiple winner of world MMA championships, and Russian Sambo Association President Vladimir Shestakov will be watching the duel together with Putin and Medvedev.