Russian President Vladimir Putin recently went on a summer vacation. It was a rather typical summer retreat – there were hills, a lake, some good old sunbathing. Just that it was a two-day camping trip to Siberia.
And it involved “real man” Putin doing a bunch of “manly” things.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu alsoaccompanied Putin for part of the trip. For a change, the Kremlin allowed pictures and videos to be taken of the President as he went hiking, fishing, kayaking and even mushroom-picking. For most of the pictures, the Russian leader preferred to go shirt-less, alternating his bare skin – which led to multiple memes on social media – with macho camouflaged clothes. The BBC appropriately added dramatic action-movie music to the video above.
The media recording of the trip, raw footage of which is posted below, adds to the Kremlin’s depiction of Putin as the ultimate symbol of macho masculinity. Previous photographs have shown the President doing things like hunting, practising martial arts, riding horses, and more.
Just 0.2% of readers pay for news. The others don’t care if it dies. You can help make a difference. Support independent journalism – join Scroll now.

Our coverage is independent because of readers like you. Pay to be a Scroll member and help us keep going.