Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fulfilled the wish of a sick child who dreamed of meeting a panda in the flesh.

The festive gesture was part of an annual campaign called Wish Tree which is hosted by the ‘Dream with Me’ charity project.

The campaign consists of children sending in their wishes which are put into little balls and presented to President Putin who is given the task of picking out and granting two of them.

One of the chosen ones this year turned out to be 10-year-old animal-lover Sasha Kolesnikov, who has suffered from diabetes since he was nine-months-old, and therefore his parents decided to send his wish to the campaign.

The little boy and his parents travelled from the eastern region of Tula to the Russian capital Moscow and spent the night there before going to Moscow Zoo the next day on 19th December.

According to the news site Vesti, little Sasha was very excited the whole time he was there and could only think about when he would see a living panda.

The panda, which belongs to China and is loaned to the Russian zoo, is called Ruyi.

Although the original wish of Sasha was to hug the panda, the staff at Moscow Zoo said that this was unsafe as the animal may not know its own strength.

Sasha was able to feed, pet, and play with the four-year-old panda which weighs 116 kilogrammes (18.2 stone) and is 170 centimetres (5.5 feet) tall.

They even painted a T-shirt together with Sasha choosing the colours and Ruyi doing the brushwork.

Sasha told Vesti: “I didn’t know pandas could draw like that, and that they can climb like monkeys. I am impressed. I don’t think everyone in life gets to see this.”

Sasha and his parents were also taken on a tour around Moscow, presented with gifts, and even received a call from the president himself to see how their day was going.

Sasha told Vesti that he had never experienced so many emotions in one day, adding that he already had a toy panda which he will now rename Ruyi in honour of his new friend.

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