Russian Prime Minister and former president Vladimir Putin put on quite the macho show of athleticism for the cameras this week. The government press corps was invited to photograph Putin -- sans shirt -- riding a horse, swimming the breast stroke and fishing. The Times reports on this breaking world leader beefcake news.
Vladimir Putin has buffed up his action-man image and raised the pin-up stakes among world leaders by posing barechested for another set of holiday pictures.
Photographs were published yesterday showing the Russian Prime Minister stripped to the waist riding a horse through rugged terrain during a brief holiday in the Siberian region of Tuva. Wearing only green fatigues, his eyes hidden behind reflective sunglasses, Mr Putin also showed his gentler side as he fed the horse from his hand after the ride.
Mr Putin, who will be 57 in October, showed off a set of rippling arm muscles as he demonstrated his butterfly swimming stroke. The photos will inevitably trigger mass swooning by women all over Russia — as well as unfavourable comparisons of their husbands to Mr Putin's manly physique. They will also confirm the Russian Prime Minister's status as a gay icon.
Mr Putin camped overnight and went whitewater rafting down the region's fast-flowing rivers, according to Russian news agencies. Other pictures show him walking through fields with a hat similar to that worn by Indiana Jones, the Hollywood adventurer.
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The pictures were taken just days after Mr Putin completed his latest action adventure by diving to the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake, in a mini-submarine.
He also attached a tracking device to a white whale named Dasha at a research centre, telling her "not to be angry" when advised that the creature had a habit of splashing visitors.
Wait... what? Vladimir Putin is a gay icon? Since when? With all the posing for shirtless photos, tipping off the photographers as to when he will be shirtless and photo-ready, obsessing about his appearance...he makes Heidi and Spencer look positively shy and retiring. The Telegraph has put together a video montage of Vladimir's Siberian vacation, including additional shots of him climbing a tree, staring into the distance, eating with a bewildered-looking local resident, and kindly giving a child a watch. The musical background is hilarious. Take a look:
