The winners of the "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up" art contest showed the prime minister their works. Dana Stash, 10, painted a photographer with a camera in a room with a bookcase and a computer table, and a mountain panorama in the window.

"Photography was quite different not long ago – you had to use film, then develop it and print the photos. It was quite a job! Now it's different but still very interesting," Mr Medvedev said to Dana, and asked her whether she preferred to photograph people or landscapes.

"People," she replied.

"And I think it's difficult to photograph people. I shoot only mountainscapes when I come to the North Caucasus," Mr Medvedev said and then presented Dana a top-notch camera.

A boy named Ian, who wants to be an Olympic swimming champion, received a free trip to a summer training camp from the prime minister, and Astemir, who wants to take up astronomy, got a telescope.

Prime Minister Medvedev congratulated the children from the Republic of Adygea on winning the contest and posed for a photo with them.