Russian President Vladimir Putin hunts fish underwater. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2105564/vlad-impaler-putins-happy-snaps-siberian-fishing-trip Russia & Central Asia
Vlad the Impaler: Putin’s happy snaps from Siberian fishing trip burnish his image as macho outdoorsman
Pictures and video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday showed Putin spearfishing, swimming and sunbathing alongside Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a fish he caught during a mini-break in the Siberian Tyva region. Photo: AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin stripped to his waist to brave the cold waters of a mountain lake as part of a three-day fishing and hunting trip in the Siberian wilderness, the Kremlin said.
Putin, 64, is renowned for his strongman publicity stunts, which have contributed to his sky-high popularity ratings. The trip comes eight months before Russia’s presidential election next March and, though he has yet to announce his candidacy, Putin is widely expected to run and to win comfortably.
The hunting and fishing expedition took place on August 1-3 in the republic of Tyva in southern Siberia, on the Mongolian border, some 3,700km east of Moscow.
Putin fishing at the cascade of mountain lakes. Photo: EPA
Putin during a walking trip in the mountains. Photo: EPA
Pictures and video footage released by the Kremlin on Saturday showed Putin – who is also a keen practitioner of martial arts and ice hockey – spearfishing, swimming and sunbathing alongside Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“The water in the lake doesn’t get warmer than 17 degrees, but this didn’t stop the president from going for a swim,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
“He went hunting underwater with a mask and snorkel ... The president chased after one pike for two hours, there was no way he could shoot it, but in the end he got what he wanted.”