Art News

Spokesman says Putin’s dive treasure find was staged

MOSCOW (AP).- The widely publicized incident in which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pulled up ancient Greek jug fragments from the seabed on a diving expedition was staged, his chief spokesman said. The August dive in the Kerch Strait that connects the Black and Azov seas was reported extensively in Russian and overseas media. Putin is noted for his habit of appearing in vigorous and adventurous settings, including fishing while stripped to the waist and riding with leather-clad motorcyclists. In video footage of the dive, Putin holds two fragments of what are said to be 6th century B.C. Greek jugs and says “the boys and I found them” in about six feet (two meters) of clear water. But his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview shown Tuesday on the Dozhd TV channel that the jugs had been found earlier by archaeologists and placed there for Putin. “Look, Putin didn’t find down there