![Vladimir Putin beefcake-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Vladimir_Putin_beefcake-2.jpg)
The public image of Vladimir Putin concerns the image of
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, President of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, among residents of Russia and worldwide.
Ratings and polls
Domestic
According to public opinion surveys conducted by NGO
Levada Center
The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history to ...
, Putin's approval rating was just 60% in July 2020. Putin's popularity rose from 31% in August 1999 to 80% in November 1999, never dropping below 65% during his first presidency.Observers see Putin's high approval ratings as a consequence of the significant improvements in living standards and Russia's reassertion of itself on the world scene that has occurred during his period of office. One analysis attributed Putin's popularity, in part, to state-owned or
state-controlled television.
A joint poll by ''World Public Opinion'' in the US and Levada Center in Russia around June–July 2006 stated that "neither the Russian nor the American publics are convinced Russia is headed in an anti-democratic direction" and "Russians generally support Putin's concentration of political power and strongly support the re-nationalization of Russia's oil and gas industry." Russians generally support the political course of Putin and his team.
[Russians Support Putin's Re-Nationalization of Oil, Control of Media, But See Democratic Future](_blank)
– World Public Opinion.org A 2005 survey showed that three times as many Russians felt the country was "more democratic" under Putin than it was during the Yeltsin or Gorbachev years, and the same proportion thought human rights were better under Putin than Yeltsin.
[Russia through the looking-glass](_blank)
openDemocracy
openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...
. "...while only about half of Russian households have a telephone line at home, well over 90% have access to the First Channel and Rossiya. And for a vast majority of Russians, they are virtually the only source of information about political events. Given that typically well over half of their news broadcasts consist of sympathetic coverage of Putin and members of the United Russia party, and oppositional figures are always presented in a negative or ironic light (if at all), it is unsurprising that the president is enjoying considerable popularity.". Retrieved 16 April 2008.
In January 2013, at the time of
2011–2013 Russian protests, Putin's approval rating fell to 62%, the lowest figure since 2000 and a ten-point drop over two years. By May 2014, following the
annexation of Crimea, Putin's approval rating had rebounded to 85.9%, a six-year high.
After
EU and U.S. sanctions against Russian officials as a result of the 2014
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, Putin's approval rating reached 87 percent, according to a
Levada Center
The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history to ...
survey published on 6 August 2014. In February 2015, based on new domestic polling, Putin was ranked the world's most popular politician. In June 2015, Putin's approval rating climbed to 89%, an all-time high.
In 2016, the approval rating was 81%.
Despite high approval for Putin, confidence in the Russian economy is low, dropping to levels in 2016 that rivaled the recent lows in 2009 at the height of the global economic crisis. Just 14% of Russians in 2016 said their national economy was getting better, and 18% said this about their local economies. Putin's performance at reining in corruption is also unpopular among Russians. ''Newsweek'' reported in June 2017 that "An opinion poll by the Moscow-based Levada Center indicated that 67 percent held Putin personally responsible for high-level corruption".
In July 2018, Putin's approval rating fell to 63% and just 49% would vote for Putin if presidential elections were held. Levada poll results published in September 2018 showed Putin's personal trustworthiness levels at 39% (decline from 59% in November 2017) with the main contributing factor being the presidential support of the unpopular pension reform and economic stagnation. In October 2018, two thirds of Russians surveyed in Levada poll agreed that "Putin bears full responsibility for the problems of the country", which has been attributed to decline of a popular belief in "good tsar and bad
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
s", a traditional attitude towards justifying failures of the ruling hierarchy in Russia.
In May 2020, Putin's approval rating dropped to a historic low of 59% in an April poll by the Levada Center.
In December 2021, a Levada Center poll found that 65% approved of Putin personally, That jumped to 69% who had a positive view of Putin in January 2022, and 71% who approved of the Russian president in February 2022 (before the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
).
International
According to a 2017 survey by the Worldwide Independent Network/Gallup International Association (WIN/GIA), Putin's international reputation increased significantly between 2015 and 2017 (43% favorable in 2017 compared with 33% in 2015).
Some of these views have changed considerably over time ever since 2017. For instance, in Romania, in a 2022 poll, only 3% of Romanians had a positive opinion of Putin while 70% of Romanians had a negative one.
Assessments
Putin was ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's
Person of the Year for 2007. In April 2008, Putin was put on the ''Time''
100 most influential people in the world list.
On 4 December 2007, at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, former Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
credited Putin with having "pulled Russia out of chaos" and said he was "assured a place in history", despite Gorbachev's claim that the news media have been suppressed and that election rules run counter to the democratic ideals he has promoted. In December 2011, amid the
protests following the 2011 Russian elections
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...
Gorbachev criticized Putin for a decision to seek the third term in the presidential elections and advised Putin to leave politics.
Criticism of Putin has been widespread especially over the
Runet
Runet (russian: Рунет), a portmanteau of ru (code for both the Russian language and Russia's top-level domain) and net/network, is the Russian-language community on the Internet and websites. The term Runet was coined in Israel in the spr ...
. It is said that the Russian youth organisations finance a full "network" of pro-government bloggers.
In the U.S. embassy cables, published by
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
in late 2010, Putin was called "
alpha dog" and compared with
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
(while
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
was compared with Batman's crime-fighting partner
Robin). American diplomats said Putin's Russia had become "a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy centred on the leadership of Putin, in which officials, oligarchs and organised crime are bound together to create a "virtual
mafia state
In politics, a mafia state is a state system where the government is tied with organized crime to the degree when government officials, the police, and/or military became a part of the criminal enterprise. According to US diplomats, the expressio ...
."
Putin called it "slanderous".
By western commentators and the Russian opposition, Putin has been described as a
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
.
Putin biographer
Masha Gessen
Masha Gessen (born 13 January 1967) is a Russian-American journalist, author, translator and activist who has been an outspoken critic of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the former president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Gess ...
has stated that "Putin is a dictator," comparing him to
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука ...
.
Former UK Foreign Secretary
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of P ...
has described Putin as a "ruthless dictator" whose "days are numbered."
U.S. Presidential candidate
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
called Putin "a real threat to the stability and peace of the world."
In the fall of 2011, the anti-Putin opposition movement in Russia became more visible, with street protests against allegedly falsified parliamentary elections (in favor of Putin's party,
United Russia
United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...
) cropping up across major Russian cities. Following Putin's re-election in March 2012, the movement struggled to redefine its new course of action. In early September 2014
Patriarch Filaret, head of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* Som ...
, linked Putin with the
biblical figure Cain because Filaret believed that although Putin claimed to be their “brother”, he was responsible for "shedding the brotherly blood" of
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
during the
War in Donbass
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
.
Filaret believed "
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
went into him, as into
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
".
[Ukrainian Church leader likens Putin to Cain and says he is under the influence of Satan](_blank)
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
(6 September 2014). The
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
criticized Putin's foreign policy practices, claiming it to be responsible for isolating Russia from the rest of the world. The
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...
named Putin as the 2014 Person of the Year, recognizing "the person who does the most to enable and promote organized criminal activity."
According to Denis Volkov from Moscow
Levada Center
The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history to ...
, drawing any conclusions from Russian poll results or comparing them with Western polls is pointless as there's no real political competition in Russia. Unlike in democratic states, the Russian voters aren't offered any "credible alternatives" and the public opinion is formed primarily with state-controlled media which promotes the ruling party and discredits any alternative candidates. This kind of illusion of democracy, choice only between "A and A", is part of "Russian consciousness", according to a nationalist publicist
Alexander Prokhanov
Alexander Andreyevich Prokhanov (russian: Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Проха́нов; born 26 February 1938) is a Russian writer, a member of the secretariat of the Writers Union of the Russian Federation and the author of more ...
, who considers the "elections between A and B" to be part of a "liberal" mindset.
Brands
Putin's name and image are widely used in advertisements and product branding.
Among Putin-branded products are
Putinka
Putinka (russian: Путинка) is a brand of Russian vodka made by the state-owned Moscow Distillery Crystal company. Created in 2003 by Vinexem Brand Manager Stanislav Kaufman, the brand plays upon President Vladimir Putin's name.
The brand ...
vodka, the
PuTin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
brand of canned food, ''Gorbusha Putina''
caviar
Caviar (also known as caviare; from fa, خاویار, khâvyâr, egg-bearing) is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread. Traditionally, the ter ...
, and a collection of
T-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
s with his image. In October 2016, the luxury company, Caviar, produced a limited series of
iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are smartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the tenth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 7, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Fr ...
s made from
Damascus steel
Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka, or Khorasan, Iran. These swords are characterized by ...
called Supremo Putin Damascus. It features a golden
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
portrait of Putin.
Public image
![Vladimir Putin with smile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Vladimir_Putin_with_smile.jpg)
Putin has created a
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
for himself as an outdoorsy, sporty,
tough guy
The Tough Guy Competition was an endurance challenge that claims to be the world's most demanding one-day survival ordeal. First staged in 1987 and organised by Billy Wilson under the pseudonym of "Mr. Mouse", it is held on a 600-acre (2.42 sq ...
public image, demonstrating his physical capabilities and taking part in unusual or dangerous acts, such as extreme sports and interaction with wild animals.
For example, in 2007, the tabloid ''
Komsomolskaya Pravda
''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925.
History and profile
During the Soviet era, ...
'' published a huge photograph of a bare-chested Putin vacationing in the Siberian mountains under the headline: "Be Like Putin."
Such
photo op
A photo op (sometimes written as photo opp), short for photograph opportunity (or photo opportunity), is an arranged opportunity to take a photograph of a politician, a celebrity, or a notable event.[Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...]
'', "deliberately cultivates the
macho
Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...
, take-charge
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
image".
The British tabloid ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' has commented that this cultivated image runs counter to the reality of Putin's modest physical stature, his height being officially reported as 170 cm (5'7"), and some of the activities used to promote his virile prowess have been criticized for involving deception or being completely staged. Notable examples of Putin's macho adventures include:
[7 Reasons Vladimir Putin Is the World's Craziest Badass]
cracked.com
*Putin flew in a
Sukhoi Su-27
The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet ...
fighter over
Chechnya
Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
in 2000 and a
Tu-160
The Tupolev Tu-160 (russian: Туполев Ту-160 Белый лебедь, translit=Belyj Lebeď, translation=White Swan; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Desi ...
supersonic heavy bomber on 16 August 2005 at
MAKS Airshow
MAKS (russian: МАКС, russian: label=short for, Международный авиационно-космический салон, Mezhdunarodnyj aviatsionno-kosmicheskij salon, "International Aviation and Space Show") is an international air ...
.
[
*Martial arts – Putin demonstrated his martial art skills on a ]tatami
A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
at the Kodokan Institute in Tokyo on 5 September 2000 and has subsequently made further demonstrations.[ Putin currently holds a black belt in ]Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
. Putin had also been awarded a 9th Dan belt in Taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
before it was rescinded in February 2022.
*Adventures in the wild – On his trip to Tuva
Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
in August 2007, Putin was seen riding horses, rafting
Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
, fishing and swimming in a cold Siberian river (mostly bare-chested).[ In August 2009, Putin repeated the experience. In 2008, Putin visited the ]Ussuri
The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the ...
national park, where he sedated an Amur tiger
The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...
with a tranquiliser gun and then helped measure its teeth and fit it with a tracker.[ Claims were made later that the tiger was actually from the ]Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
Zoo and that it died soon after the stunt, but the suspected tiger named by the Khabarovsk Zoo workers was found in late 2009 in Zelenogorsk Zelenogorsk (russian: Зеленогорск) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia.
;Urban localities
*Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, a closed town in Krasnoyarsk Krai
*Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg, a municipal town in Kurortny ...
, while the claims of a stunt were denied by the scientists who organized the "safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
". In April 2010, Putin traveled to Franz Josef Land
, native_name =
, image_name = Map of Franz Josef Land-en.svg
, image_caption = Map of Franz Josef Land
, image_size =
, map_image = Franz Josef Land location-en.svg
, map_caption = Location of Franz Josef ...
in the Russian Arctic
The Extreme North or Far North (russian: Крайний Север, Дальний Север) is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about , ...
, where he tranquilized a polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
and attached a satellite tag to it. In late August 2010, Putin shot darts from a crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...
at a gray whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bree ...
off Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...
coast as part of an eco-tracking effort, while balancing on a rubber boat
An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull is often flexible, while for boats longer than , the floor typically consists ...
in the sea.[
*Descending in a deepwater submersible – On 1 August 2009, Putin descended 1395 m to the bottom of ]Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
, the world's deepest lake, on a MIR submersible accompanied by deepwater explorer Anatoly Sagalevich
Anatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevich (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Сагалевич; born 5 September 1938) is a Russian explorer, who works at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (USSR Academy ...
(who had been among the team which had reached the bottom at the North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
in the Arktika 2007
Arktika 2007 (russian: Российская полярная экспедиция "Арктика-2007") was a 2007 expedition in which Russia performed the first ever crewed descent to the ocean bottom at the North Pole, as part of research rela ...
expedition). From the bottom of Baikal Putin spoke to journalists via hydrophone
A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potenti ...
.
*Riding a motorbike – In July 2010, Putin appeared at a bikers festival in Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
riding a Harley-Davidson tricycle; the high council of Russian bikers movements unanimously voted him into a Hells Angel
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...
rank with the nickname of Abaddon
The Hebrew term Abaddon ( he, אֲבַדּוֹן ''’Ăḇaddōn'', meaning "destruction", "doom"), and its Greek equivalent Apollyon ( grc-koi, Ἀπολλύων, ''Apollúōn'' meaning "Destroyer") appear in the Bible as both a place of de ...
. Putin's associations with motorcycle gangs led to him being accidentally placed on a blacklist of banned people in Finland. In August 2011 a video showed Putin riding with the Night Wolves
The Night Wolves ( rus, Ночные Волки, r=Nochnye Volki) or Night Wolves Motorcycle Club is a Russian motorcycle club that was founded around the Moscow area in 1989. It holds an international status with at least 45 chapters world-wide ...
.
*Firefighting from the air – In August 2010, Russian TV broadcast a video of Putin co-piloting a firefighting plane Beriev Be-200 to dump water on a raging fire during the 2010 Russian wildfires
The 2010 Russian wildfires were several hundred wildfires that broke out across Russia, primarily in European Russia, the west in summer 2010. They started burning in late July and lasted until early September 2010. The fires were associated w ...
.[
]
*Driving a race car – Putin tested a Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
car on 7 November 2010 in Saint Petersburg, reaching a maximum speed of 240 km per hour (149 mph).
*Scuba diving – Putin took part in scuba diving
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...
at the archaeological site of the ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
colony of Phanagoria
Phanagoria ( grc, Φαναγόρεια, Phanagóreia; russian: Фанагория, translit=Fanagoriya) was the largest ancient Greek city on the Taman peninsula, spread over two plateaus along the eastern shore of the Cimmerian Bosporus.
The ...
in the Taman Bay
The Taman Bay ( Russian: Таманский залив) is a shallow bay or gulf on the east coast of the Strait of Kerch shaped on the southern side by the Tuzla Spit and to the north by the Chushka Spit. It dips into the Taman Peninsula of Kras ...
on 11 August 2011.[Путин погрузился с аквалангом на дно Таманского залива]
tetis.ru During the dive, he "discovered" two amphora
An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...
e and emerged from the sea exclaiming to television cameras "Treasure!". In October 2011, spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin.[..They were found during an rchaeologicalexpedition several weeks or days beforehand. Of course they were then left there or him to findor placed there. It is a completely normal thing to do."][''Vladimir Putin diving discovery was staged, spokesman admits'']
''The Daily Telegraph''. Retrieved 16 March 2012. The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
called it an example of Putin Jumping the shark
The idiom "jumping the shark" was coined in 1985 by Jon Hein in response to a 1977 episode from the fifth season of the American sitcom ''Happy Days'', in which Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a shark while on water-skis. The phrase is pej ...
.
*In September 2012, Putin flew in a motorized hang glider alongside endangered Siberian white cranes to "guide them on their migration to Asia."
*Fishing – In July 2013, Putin was pictured in Tuva
Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
, Siberia, holding up a large pike that he 'caught' and which the Kremlin claimed weighed 21 kg (47 lbs), a very large amount for that species. Many media outlets and internet users questioned whether the fish could have weighed that much. Some bloggers also pointed out that Putin's fishing trip wasn't on the official schedule and that he was photographed wearing clothing identical to that worn during a previous trip to the region.
*In a 2014 art exhibition organised by Putin Supporters group on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, and labelled "bizarre" by BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, the Russian leader was depicted in the guise of the all-conquering Ancient Greek hero Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...
. The series of images associated each of twelve various military and political feats performed by Putin with one of the mythological figure's famous Twelve Labors
The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles ( grc-gre, οἱ Ἡρακλέους ἆθλοι, ) are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as ...
.
*In August 2015, Putin used a submersible
A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...
to explore a Byzantine shipwreck off the coast of Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
. "83 metres is a pretty substantial depth," he said in televised comments after the dive. "It was interesting."
*In May 2019, Putin scored 8 goals in an amateur hockey league all-star game and was reportedly provided with plenty of scoring opportunities by his linemates and was met with little resistance by the opposing team's defence.
*In April 2021, Putin was named Russia's "most handsome man" in a poll of two thousand conducted by Superjob.ru, a Russian job board site. People from three hundred cities were surveyed. ''Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' described the selection process as "highly questionable" and emphasized the disproportionate results of the survey.
*On 1 September 2022, in Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, Putin was appearing to struggle with control of his legs during a conference with Russian school pupils.
Singing and painting
On 11 December 2010, at a concert organized for a children's charity in Saint Petersburg, Putin sang ''Blueberry Hill
"Blueberry Hill" is a popular American song published in 1940, best remembered for its 1950s rock and roll version by Fats Domino. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Larry Stock and Al Lewis. It was recorded six times in 1940 ...
'' with Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...
's jazz band and played a little piano of it and of the Russian patriotic song '' С чего начинается Родина'' from his favourite spy movie '' The Shield and the Sword''. After that he took part in singing of a Russian song about cosmonauts, '' Grass by the Home''. The concert was attended by various Hollywood and European stars such as Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
, Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
, Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
, and Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...
. Putin also played or sang "С чего начинается Родина" on a number of other occasions, such as a meeting with the Russian spies deported from the U.S., including Anna Chapman
Anna Vasilyevna Chapman (russian: А́нна Васи́льевна Ча́пман; born Anna Vasilyevna Kushchenko on 23 February 1982) is a Russian intelligence agent, media personality and model who was arrested in the United States on 27 Ju ...
.
Another melody which Putin is known to play on the piano is the Anthem of Saint Petersburg
The Anthem of Saint Petersburg () is the municipal anthem of the Russian federal city of Saint Petersburg since 2003. The music was composed in 1949 by Reinhold Glière and the lyrics were written by poet in 2002.
The anthem was fully recognized ...
, his native city.
Putin's painting ''"Узор на заиндевевшем окне"'' (''A Pattern on a Hoarfrost-Encrusted Window''), which he had painted during the Christmas Fair on 26 December 2008, became the top lot at the charity auction in Saint Petersburg and sold for 37 million rubles.[Картина Путина стала самым дорогим лотом на аукционе в Петербурге]
RIAN
RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...
The picture was made for a series of other paintings by famous Russians. The painters were required to illustrate one of the letters of the Russian alphabet
The Russian alphabet (russian: ру́сский алфави́т, russkiy alfavit, , label=none, or russian: ру́сская а́збука, russkaya azbuka, label=none, more traditionally) is the script used to write the Russian language. I ...
with a subject connected to Nikolay Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
's novel ''Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
'' (the 200th anniversary from Gogol's birth was celebrated in 2008). Putin's picture depicted a hoarfrost pattern (Russian: Узор, illustrating the Cyrillic letter У) on a window with curtain
A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain), water. A curtain is also the movable screen or drape in a theatre that separates the stage from the auditorium ...
s sewn with traditional Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
ornaments.[ The creation of the painting coincided with the 2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute, which left a number of European states without Russian gas and amid January frosts.][Q&A: Russia-Ukraine gas row]
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
(20 January 2009).
In popular culture
A Russian movie called ''A Kiss not for Press'' was premiered in 2008 on DVD. The movie is said to be based on biography of Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila. Dobby
Rhyan Clapham, known by his stage name Dobby (stylised as DOBBY), is a Filipino-Aboriginal Australian musician. He describes himself as a "drapper", a contraction of rapper and drummer, although he also plays other instruments and is also a compo ...
, a house elf from ''Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' film series, has been found to look like Putin, and so was also Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...
in his role of James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
(he was the first blond
Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...
actor to play James Bond).
There are a large number of songs about Putin. These include:
*''Такого, как Путин'' – " Want A Man Like Putin" by Singing Together
*''Гороскоп (Путин, не ссы!)'' – "Horoscope (Putin, Don't Pee Pee!)" by Uma2rman
Uma2rman (previously ''Umaturman'', ''Uma2rmaH'') is a Russian pop rock band made up of two brothers, Sergei and Vladimir Kristovsky. They have been active since 2003, releasing their first album "V Gorode N" in 2004. Additional musicians have be ...
*''ВВП'' – "VVP" by a Tajik singer Tolibjon Kurbankhanov (Толибджон Курбанханов)
*''Our Madhouse is Voting for Putin'' by Rabfak
Rabfak (from russian: рабфак, a syllabic abbreviation of рабочий факультет, ''rabochiy fakultet'', "workers' faculty") was a type of educational institution in the Soviet UnionBerthold Unfried''"Ich bekenne": Katholische Beic ...
. ( Рабфак).
*''Vladimir'' - a song by a Polish bard Maleńczuk. The singer said that he planned to release it before the Sochi Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...
, but the Russian annexation of Crimea contributed greatly to the promotion of the song.
*''Putin khuylo!
"Putin – khuylo!" ( rus, Пу́тин — хуйло́, , ˈputʲɪn xʊjˈlo; uk, Пу́тін — хуйло́, ; be, Пу́цін хуйло́, ; commonly translated as "Putin s adickhead") is a slogan deriding Russian President Vladi ...
'', a song originated in Ukraine in 2014 having grown from a football chant
*''Vladimir Putin...'' – a more recent song by Colin Macpherson; inspired by the war in Ukraine
*''Putin'' - a recent song released in 2022 by Polish singer and producer Cypis denouncing the tragedies of the war after Russia's invasion, gaining tens of millions of views on various social media and trending in many Western and Eastern European countries, including Ukraine.
Putin also is a subject of Russian jokes
Russian jokes (russian: link=no, анекдоты, anekdoty, anecdotes) are short fictional stories or dialogs with a punch line, which commonly appear in Russian humor. Russian joke culture includes a series of categories with fixed settings and ...
and chastushki, such as " efore PutinThere Was No Orgasm" featured in the comedy film '' The Day of Elections''. There is a meta-joke
Self-referential humor, also known as self-reflexive humor, self-aware humor, or meta humor, is a type of Expression (language), comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—is self-refere ...
that, since the coming of Putin to power, all the classic jokes about a smart yet rude boy called ''Вовочка'' (''Vovochka'', diminutive from Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
) have suddenly become political jokes.
Putin features in the coloring book for children ''Vova and Dima'' (presented on his 59th birthday), where he and Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
are drawn as good-behaving little boys, and in the ''Superputin'' online comics series, where Putin and Medvedev are portrayed first as superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
es,[ and then as a ]troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
and an orc
An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially '' The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugl ...
in the World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
.
Putin was portrayed by internet personality Nice Peter in his YouTube series ''Epic Rap Battles of History
''Epic Rap Battles of History'' (ERB) is a YouTube web series and music project created by Peter "Nice Peter" Shukoff and Lloyd "EpicLLOYD" Ahlquist. The series pits historical and pop culture figures against one another in a rap battle format. ...
'', in Season 2's finale episode, "Rasputin vs. Stalin" (aired on 22 April 2013).
In 2014, Putin earned a nickname of "dickhead" or "fuckface" ("хуйло" in Russian and Ukrainian) in Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, following the spread of the chant of Ukrainian football hooligans. On 14 June 2014, Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia cited the chant in front of the cameras during an anti-Russian rally at Russia's Embassy in Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
.
The main protagonist of 2018 manga series The Ride-On King - Alexander Purchinov - was inspired by Vladimir Putin.
In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, leaders at the 48th G7 summit
The 48th G7 summit was held from 26 to 28 June 2022 in Schloss Elmau, Krün, Bavarian Alps, Germany. Germany previously hosted a G7 summit in 2015 at Schloss Elmau.
Leaders at the summit
The 2022 summit was the first summit for German Chan ...
ridiculed Putin's photo ops—particularly his manly, bare-chested photographs with airbrushed muscles—including Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
.
Putinisms
Putin has produced a large number of popular aphorisms and catch-phrases, known as ''putinisms''.[Путинизмы – "продуманный личный эпатаж"?]
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Many of them were first made during his annual Q&A conferences, where Putin answered questions from journalists and other people in the studio, as well as from Russians throughout the country, who either phoned in or spoke from studios and outdoor sites across Russia. Putin is known for his often tough and sharp language.[ The examples of most popular putinisms include:][20 высказываний Путина, ставших афоризмами]
RIAN
RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...
*' – One of the earliest "putinisms", made in September 1999, when he promised to destroy terrorists wherever they were found, including in toilets.[ A literal translation is 'to wet them in toilets'. The Russian old-standing criminal slang expression "to wet", however means "to murder". In 2010, Putin also promised to scrape the remaining terrorists out from the bottom of a sewer (выковырять со дна канализации).
* ''Comrade Wolf'' - Putin's remark, describing the policies of the United States, many non-Russians found cryptic (Russia's neighbors tend to think this an example of ]psychological projection
Psychological projection is the process of misinterpreting what is "inside" as coming from "outside". It forms the basis of empathy by the projection of personal experiences to understand someone else's subjective world. In its malignant forms, i ...
by Putin, reflecting instead his own behavior). The phrase comes from the following Russian joke
Russian jokes (russian: link=no, анекдоты, anekdoty, anecdotes) are short fictional stories or dialogs with a punch line, which commonly appear in Russian humor. Russian joke culture includes a series of categories with fixed settings and ...
:
** Rabinovich is walking through the forest with a sheep, when both of them stumble into a pit. A few minutes later, a wolf also falls into the pit. The sheep gets nervous and starts bleating. "What's with all the ''baaahh, baaahh''?" Rabinovich asks. "Comrade
The term ''comrade'' (russian: товарищ, tovarisch) generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term , literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin , meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may also ...
Wolf knows whom to eat."
*''She sank
She most commonly refers to:
*She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English.
She or S.H.E. may also refer to:
Literature and films
*'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...
.'' (Она утонула.) – Putin's short answer to a question from Larry King
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...
in September 2000 asking what happened to the Russian submarine ''Kursk'' (K-141).[ Many criticized Putin for the cynicism perceived in this answer.
*''Plowed away like a slave on a galley'' (Пахал, как раб на галерах) – (The Russian verb пахать also has the general meaning of "to do hard work".) This is how Putin described his work as President of Russia from 2000 to 2008 during a Q&A conference in February 2008.][ Not only did the phrase itself became popular, but a wrong hearing of it— "как раб" ("like a slave") in Russian sounds almost identical to "как краб" ("like a crab")—led to the appearance of an Internet nickname for Putin, "Crabbe" (Russian: Краббе), while ]Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
was similarly nicknamed Shmele (Russian: Шмеле, a non-existent vocative
In grammar, the vocative Grammatical case, case (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers ...
form of шмель, meaning "bumblebee
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...
").
*''Ears of a dead donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
'' (От мертвого осла уши) – Quoting Ostap Bender
Ostap Bender (russian: Остап Бендер; in ''The Twelve Chairs'' he called himself Ostap-Suleyman-Berta-Maria-Bender- Bey, in ''The Little Golden Calf'' he called himself Bender-Zadunaysky, in later novels he was also called Ostap Ibragim ...
from a popular Soviet novel ''The Little Golden Calf
''The Little Golden Calf'' (russian: Золотой телёнок, ''Zolotoy telyonok'') is a satirical novel by Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, published in 1931. Its main character, Ostap Bender, also appears in a previous novel by the authors c ...
'', that was, according to Putin, what Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
would receive instead of the western Pytalovsky District
Pytalovsky District (russian: Пыта́ловский райо́н; lv, Pitalovas rajons) is an administrativeLaw #833-oz and municipalLaw #420-oz district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Pskov Oblast, twenty-four in Pskov Oblast, ...
of Russia claimed by Latvia in a territorial dispute stemming from the Soviet border redrawing.[ On 27 March 2007 Russia and Latvia signed the treaty on state border, in which Latvia renounced its territorial claims.
*''At the very least, a civil servant should have a head.'' (Как минимум государственный деятель должен иметь голову.) – Putin's response to ]Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
's claim that Putin has no soul. He also recommended that international relations be built without emotion and instead on the basis of the fundamental interests of the states involved.[
]
*''Give my pen back.'' (Ручку верните.) – A phrase said by Putin to the industrial oligarch Oleg Deripaska, after Deripaska was forced by Putin to sign, using Putin's pen, an agreement aimed at resolving a socioeconomic crisis in the monograd of Pikalyovo on 4 June 2009, which had escalated after the different owners of the aluminum oxide plant and connected enterprises in the town did not pay their workers' salaries and were unable to negotiate the terms on which the local industrial complex would work. Putin came to the scene personally to conduct the negotiations.
*''Shearing a piglet'' (''Стричь поросенка'') – On 25 June 2013, Putin revealed the surveillance whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
was indeed in a Moscow airport, ending a global guessing game over the US fugitive's whereabouts. Putin lashed out at US accusations that Russia was harbouring a fugitive, saying "I'd rather not deal with such questions, because anyway it's like shearing a piglet—a lot of squealing but little wool".
*''Russia is not the kind of a country that extradites human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
activists.'' (''Россия не та страна, которая выдаёт борцов за права человека.'') – This comment on Snowden during the Q&A session with CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
at the SPIEF
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF; russian: Петербургский международный экономический форум, ПМЭФ) is an annual Russian business event for the economic sector, which has been hel ...
on 23 May 2014 was followed by a storm of laughter and applause. ''Kommersant
''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'' described the reaction as follows: "A tempest of elation and applause erupted, and a howl of laughter and weeping hung over the hall" ("Поднялась просто буря восторга, аплодисментов, над залом застрял стон из хохота и плача"), and commented that not everybody grasped the full meaning of the utterance.
* ''"Don't wait for it!", "Don't waste time waiting!"'' (Не дождетесь!) – Various Russian media noticed that at the 20 December 2018 press conference, when asked about his health, Putin answered with the punch line from a Jewish joke: Old Rabinovich is greeted: "Hi! How is your health?" — "Don't wait for it!" he answers. Putin invoked the same joke at the 23 January 2000 press conference when commenting on the talks about his potential long-term dictatorship.
*''"Defenseless Russian bomber"'' ( беззащитный российский бомбардировщик) – This Russian internet meme of late 2015 was in fact a transcription error: Putin was talking about the "unsupported bomber" (bomber without fighter support, незащищенный бомбардировщик) when commenting on the 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M attack aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border on 24 November 2015. According to Turkey, the aircraft was fired upon while in Turkish airspace because it violated the ...
by a Turkish fighter jet.
*''" Подхрюкивают" ("podkhryukivayut")'', ''" oinking along"'' – Uttered during Putin's 2019 "State Of The Nation" address. The context was the American allegations that Russians violate the ABM Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty or ABMT) (1972–2002) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballisti ...
. Putin responded that the Americans were first to violate it and "they are also mobilising their satellites that are cautious but still make noises in support of the USA". Here "make noises in support" is the official translation of "podkhryukivayut", while the literal translation would be ''" oink along"'' [The Annotated Putin: 'State Of The Nation' Dissected]
RFE/RL
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
(in an analogy with "sing along" for "подпевают/ подпевать", ("podpevayut"/"podpevat") with a similar metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
ical meaning[). The witticism brought applause from the audience.Путин: "сателлиты" США "подхрюкивают" Вашингтону ]
Radio Liberty
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
(Russian edition). A number of observers commented on the untranslatability
Untranslatability is the property of text or speech for which no equivalent can be found when translated into another language. A text that is considered to be untranslatable is considered a ''lacuna'', or lexical gap. The term arises when descr ...
of the word and suggested other translations, such as "grunt along", "take up grunting", or "to echo".
See also
* Putinism
Putinism (russian: путинизм, translit=putinizm) is the social, political, and economic system of Russia formed during the political leadership of Vladimir Putin. It is characterized by the concentration of political and financial powe ...
* Russia under Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin has served three terms and is currently in a fourth as President of Russia (2000–2004, 2004–2008, 2012–2018 and May 2018 to present) and served as Acting President from 1999 to 2000, succeeding Boris Yeltsin after Yeltsin's ...
References and notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Image Of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Cultural depictions of Vladimir Putin
Politics of Russia
History of Russia (1991–present)
Putin, Vladimir
Articles containing video clips
Cults of personality