SOCHI, July 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s code name at an intelligence school was Platov, he said during his televised "Serious Talk with Vladimir Putin" Q&A with children held at the Sirius Educational Centre for Gifted Children in Sochi on Thursday.

"About user names, they are just nicknames. As you know, I began my career in foreign intelligence agencies and sometimes I used aliases due to technological necessity. When I was in an intelligence school, Platov was my code name," Putin said.

Nowadays, any nicknames are "merely ridiculous," the head of state says.

"Of course, I would not prefer any different user name except mine. It is normal. Why hide behind any nicknames?" he said, adding aliases were good for masking in intelligence services.

On the contrary, "if a person is doing something worthy and interesting, something they can be proud of, they should say whose it is," he added.