Vladmir Putin is a lot of things, but no one can say he isn’t entertaining. The whole world knows about how much he values his masculinity, as the innumerable pictures of him riding a horse shirtless invariably prove. But there’s several other things that the man has done that just reinforce that ‘manly’ image of his.
Read on!
1. He can score against professional ice hockey players
On his 63rd birthday, he celebrated by playing a game of ice hockey against professional NHL stars. His team won, and he scored 7 goals.
2. He’s a master of 2 martial arts – Judo and Sambo
In fact, he’d achieved a black belt in Judo by the age of 18. In 2012, the International Judo Federation granted him an 8th Dan, one of the highest grades possible.
3. He helps track and rescue polar bears
In 2010, Putin was pictured attaching a a tracking collar to a 507-pound polar bear. He is known to assist in research and rescue operations for endangered species.
4. He discovered ancient Greek urns while diving underwater
In 2011, Putin was diving in the Black Sea when he and his team discovered two sixth century Greek urns underwater.
5. Putin once helped put out hundreds of wildfires in Western Russia via aircraft
Before you down that shot of vodka in obeisance though, it should be known that this was more of a publicity stunt. He was co-piloting the plane and pressed the button to dump water on the fires.
6. Putin worked as a KGB spy for 16 years
Putin was in the KGB from 1975 till 1991. During that time, he even worked undercover in East Germany, and claims to have burned KGB files during the Fall of the Berlin Wall in order to prevent demonstrators from obtaining them.
7. Apart from t-shirts, you can even buy signature Putin Vodka and Putin canned foods in Russia
The vodka’s not really surprising though.
8. He once caught a 20 kg pike while fishing. It was reportedly one of the biggest in the world
Putin was fishing in Siberia in 2013 when he allegedly caught a pike weighing 20 kgs. It might just have been another publicity stunt though.
9. He once freed a West Asian leopard from its cage
In May 2010, Putin, who oversees research programs on several different mammals, symbolically released a west Asian leopard from its cage into an outdoor enclosure in a wildlife sanctuary.
10. He also saved a camera crew from a tigress once
In 2008, a camera crew following Putin at the Ussuri wildlife reserve was attacked by a Siberian tigress. He quickly shot the deadly animal with a dart and tranquilized it, saving the camera crew. At least, that’s how Russian media portrayed it.