Vladimir Putin’s choice of gifts to CIS allies sparks LOTR jokes highlighting Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gifted the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) symbolic rings on Monday evening at an informal summit in St. Petersburg, reported independent news outlet Moscow Times. The CIS is a Moscow-led forum that comprises former Soviet republics. The rings were gold in colour and had been engraved with New Year greetings. 

One ring was presented to each of the eight leaders with Putin keeping the ninth one. It was reported that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was the only state head to immediately put Putin’s present on his finger. The summit held against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, has been a point of contention amongst CIS states. “We have to admit, unfortunately, that disagreements also arise between the member states of the Commonwealth," Putin said in a rare public acknowledgment of the simmering tensions within the group.

Putin & LOTR's evil lord Sauron: A comparison

It took a short time for the internet to hear about Putin’s interesting choice of gifts, and it took an even shorter time for comparisons of his gifts of gold rings to the famed fictional rings of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) franchise.

Sparking the barrage of jokes and quips, Ukrainian politician Oleksiy Goncharenko took to Twitter saying, “Putin got tired of being the Hitler of the 21st century and decided to play Lord of the Rings and become a 'mighty Sauron’,” comparing the Russian leader to the fictional evil lord Sauron. “After that, can we now officially call the Russian army orcs?” added Goncharenko referring to the army of evil creatures in the franchise that did the bidding of Sauron. He also shared a clip from the first LOTR film which showed how the rings were forged, writing, “I think the story of the creation of Putin's rings was the same.”

Numerous references and comparisons of Putin’s rings to the franchise penned by British author J.R.R. Tolkien appeared on Twitter with a user tweeting, “Putin at the CIS summit gave out the rings to dictators as a gift. Lord of the Rings in Mordor.” The user was referring to the storyline in the LOTR franchise where evil lord Sauron presented nine rings in order to enslave them under his will. “Putin giving nine (9!) rings (!) to the leaders of CIS countries as New Year presents makes me wonder if he actually gets the reference himself,” tweeted Nick Davidov.

Many users also shared memes with Putin’s face edited on Sauron’s face making references to his invasion of Ukraine and the international condemnation it has received for the past ten months. It’s not by chance, the Kremlin established the parallel with the story "in full awareness," reported Le Monde citing political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no need to read too much into the meaning of the gifts, reported news agencies. "It's just a New Year's souvenir, there's nothing special about it," he said. Putin will not be wearing his ring, he added.