39 Photos That Prove Birthday Boy Vladimir Putin Is The Most Badass Leader In The World
Vladimir Putin is a consummate outdoors-man. Here Putin recharges on a visit to the Siberian Khakasiya region.
Politics1 min readA 16-year veteran of the KGB, Putin knows his way around a gun. After his retirement in 1991, he rapidly rose through Russian politics to become top dog in the world's largest nation.
Here, Putin trains with an assault rifle simulator.
Here's Putin riding a Harley Davidson to a meeting with motorcycle enthusiasts in Crimea in 2010.
The high council of Russian bikers unanimously voted him into a Hells Angels rank. His nickname is "Abaddon," a Hebrew word that roughly translates to The Destroyer.
Putin likes speed; In 2010 he took a test drive of a Renault Formula One car a racing track in Leningrad. He reached the maximum speed of 240 km per hour.
Here, Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ride a snowmobile at an Olympic alpine ski park. The pair will later hit the slopes.
Here he is today, giving Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying his patented Putin Glare
He also lead the Russian team in a "friendly" match against neighboring Finland. Here, he presents skates to the Finnish president Sauli Niinisto
Putin makes a slap shot right before a youth ice hockey tournament. Putin picked up the sport after promising the Russia men's junior ice hockey team he'd learn it following their win in the 2011 world tournament.
The man is also a sixth degree Judo black belt. He also holds a second black belt in Kyokushin kaikan karate.
His signature Judo move is the Harai Goshi sweeping hip throw. He wrote a book on the form of combat.
Here, Putin educates a Judo student in the art of inflicting pain on enemies with his bare hands.
Still, he's not always the one in the arena. Here he adjudicates an arm wrestling match between two competitors at a Kremlin youth camp.
He swims in freezing Siberian lakes for fun.
Besides his love for hand to hand combat, Putin like to relax by fishing.
One of the Russian President's favorite hobbies is hunting, an he frequently goes on expeditions to aid researchers in tagging animals.
In 2008, Putin went on a tiger hunt in the Russian far-east as part of a scientific expedition.
He shot a tiger with a tranquilizer dart, which allowed the researchers to tag the big cat with a satellite tracker.
He's also shot a polar bear for science. This allowed researchers to tag and track the arctic bear.
No beast is safe from an armed Vladimir Putin. He shot an endangered grey whale with a crossbow from a motorboat, again to help researchers track the animal.
Putin stares down a young chick at an Agricultural Exposition.
Here Putin goes on an expedition to inspect the snow leopard's habitat.
He snagged this fish on the snow leopard expedition.
He also has found ways to help scientists tag creatures without shooting them. Here he feeds a Beluga whale name Dasha.
Here he is, attaching a satellite tracking device to Dasha shortly after.
He also attempted to help endangered Siberian cranes begin their migration routes by assisting them with a motorized hang glider.
It was altogether unsuccessful due to strong winds.
Here he rides a horse through a river in the Tyva Republic in the Siberian Federal District.
Putin takes in the scenic Siberian wilderness while shirtless on a horse.
Vladimir Putin again eschews a shirt while hiking along the Siberian Khemchik River in the summer.
Still, there's a lot more to Putin than shooting animals with tranquilizer guns while shirtless. Putin tickles the ivories for a crowd at the Theatre of Nations in Moscow. He often plays the patriotic song "From What The Motherland Begins?" and the "Anthem of Saint Petersburg," his hometown jam.
Putin is also a man of science. Here he SCUBA dives at an archaeological site.
The hunt was "successful," given that Putin found two amphorae that were placed there by the archaeologists before hand.
Here Putin hikes beyond the Arctic Circle to meet with scientists measuring the impacts of global climate change.
There's also a softer side to the Russian President. Here, Putin strokes a two-month-old tiger cub he received as a birthday present at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside of Moscow. It will soon go to a zoo.
Putin hosted a lavish tea party with an 8-year-old patient of the Rogachev Federal Research and Clinical Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology
The Russian President bottle-feeds young elk at a nature reserve.
And in this shot, Putin kicks back and relaxes with loyal second in command Dmitry Medvedev as they watch a soccer match.
Check out a day in the life of a comparatively boring World Leader.
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