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Mr Putin was the first Russian leader throughout the Soviet and post-Soviet years to visit the shrine Armenians of the whole world hold sacred. He paid tribute to the memory of one and a half million victims of the 1915 genocide in the Ottoman Empire with a minute of silence.

Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, was accompanying the President.

Mr Putin planted a tree in the Visitors’ Alley next to the memorial.

Built in 1967, the memorial stands on a high hill in Tsitsernakaberd (Swallow’s Fort) park, and is visible from a greater part of the city.