Vladimir Putin was given a tractor for his 70th birthday on Friday by the Belarusian president and told by the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church that “God” brought him to power, while the Kremlin held back celebrations as Moscow grappled with backlash in Ukraine was faced.

On the same day, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three human rights organizations and activists: Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian Memorial group and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.

The committee said it wanted the award to highlight “how civil society and human rights defenders are being oppressed in Russia.”

In Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said Putin’s rule over Russia was ordained by God.

“God placed you in power to perform a service of special importance and great responsibility for the fate of the country and the people entrusted to your care,” the patriarch said, joining a chorus of Russian officials who commended Putin on his birthday congratulated .

The Patriarch praised Putin for “changing Russia’s image, strengthening its sovereignty and defense capabilities, and protecting its national interests.”

Kirill wished the Russian leader, who had been in power for more than 20 years, “health and long life.”

He also called on believers across the country to pray for Putin’s health.

“You have earned the reputation of a national leader who is selflessly devoted to the motherland, sincerely loves the motherland and gives it all his strength,” the patriarch said.

As head of the Russian Orthodox Church since 2009, Kirill has been a vocal supporter of the military operation in Ukraine.

Kirill has close ties to Putin’s government and supports conservative values ??over Western liberalism.

A close Putin ally, strongman Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, told journalists he gifted the Russian president a Belarusian tractor “the best out there.”

Lukashenko was in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg for a meeting with the Kremlin chief and leaders of the former Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

He said the tractor could be used to sow wheat so Europeans “don’t starve or steal bread from Ukraine”.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s largest grain exporters, had disrupted exports and fueled fears of a global food crisis.

Putin received a spate of birthday messages, including from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who wished the Russian president “good health, long life and success” in a video statement mixed with archival footage and emotional music.

“Putin changed Russia’s position in the world and made it a nation to be reckoned with!” Kadyrov said.

Russian Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Telegram: “If there is Putin, then there is Russia.”

Around 40 people from 20 different ethnic groups that make up Russia took part in a flash mob near the Kremlin, according to the state news agency TASS.

Putin has also been praised by officials deployed by Moscow in the Ukrainian regions it has partially controlled and allegedly annexed.

The Kremlin-backed leader of the Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said on Telegram that “thanks to Vladimir Vladimirovich and the people of Russia, the Zaporizhia region became part of the big country and was reunited with his family.”

His counterpart in the Donetsk region Denis Pushilin said: “For residents of Donbass, the name of the leader of our country will forever be associated with the most important event of recent history – the return home.”

Seven months into the Ukraine offensive, Putin is isolated from western countries and facing east in the face of unprecedented sanctions.

The Kremlin has not reported any congratulations from Washington or Brussels.

Friday also marks the anniversary of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead on October 7, 2006.

Her murder, which sent shockwaves around the world, is still unsolved.