The head of state met with members of the people's militia who took part in the battles in Dagestan in August-September 1999, reports RIA Novosti.

Having said welcoming words, the president lifted a pile and drank it to the bottom.

Said done. 20 years later, Putin drank a glass of vodka with militias in Dagestan pic.twitter.com/bJmH5BGTLc

- Kremlin Pool RIA (@Kremlinpool_RIA) September 12, 2019

September 12, Putin flew to Dagestan.

Then the villager recalled how in September 1999, Putin, at a meeting with militias, proposed to postpone a toast for victory until the destruction of the terrorist underground in Russia. And they asked the president when he would raise this glass with them https://t.co/PYHst2SqBc

- NTV (@ntvru) September 12, 2019

During the direct line, the president was asked to equate the militia members with the war veterans of a man from the village of Botlikh, who in 1999 stood up against the gangs of militants invading Dagestan with weapons in their hands.