Manolis Glezos, resistance fighter and veteran politician, "was a true friend of our country," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message of condolences to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis requested that the Greek flag on the Acropolis be flown at half mast on Wednesday, the day WWII resistance hero and politician Manolis Glezos is to be buried.
Glezos, who died on Monday aged 97, was best known for taking down the Nazi swastika flag from the Acropolis, with the assistance of another young friend, during the Nazi occupation of Greece in WWII.
In his request late on Tuesday, announced on social media, Mitsotakis said the gesture was a tribute to "a great Greek".

Manolis Glezos, the iconic left-wing politician and WW2 resistance fighter, is facing health problems, as the Greek speaker of Parliament Nikos Voutsis revealed during the discussion on the World War 2 German reparations on Wednesday.