Russian President Vladimir Putin has worked relentlessly to maintain a macho image, a strategy that involves the government and the media posting pictures and videos of him stalking tigers and diving in a miniature submarine.
The latest of these is a video of Putin displaying his sharpshooting skills with a new Kalashnikov sniper rifle. Russian state media claimed that Putin fired five bullets from the SVCh-308 rifle by the Russian weapon-maker, more than half of which hit the static target.
Putin was visiting a military-themed park called Patriot in the Moscow region where he laid the foundation stone for a Russian Orthodox Church. Firing a Kalashnikov was an interesting way to mark the occasion.
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