Russian President Vladimir Putin has played
in an ice hockey game in Sochi.
The Russian President also took part in a
moment of silence before the game for those
who died a day earlier in violence in the
eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Players in the Night Hockey League game included
amateurs like Putin along with former professional athletes.
The League was created by Putin in 2011 to
keep athletes competing after they've reached
the age of 40.
Russian television showed footage of Putin
scoring a goal and the crowd cheering.
The President spoke to journalists after the
game.
We don't have winners and losers. It's a friendly
game. It's a show, and all of us enjoyed it.
Inside the stadium, a Russian flag hung next
to a Ukrainian flag. Russian news reported
that the event began with a moment of silence
for victims of violence in Mariupol, where
Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian soldiers
fought in a police station in the port city.
