“Pugnacious” takes on quite literal meaning when applied to Russia’s prime minister. With his new video, “Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin,” the ex-KGB operative shows off his wicked awesome martial arts skills.
In isolation this seems exhibitionistic enough, but The Economist says that this is
just the latest in a string of macho Putin stunts. Only a few weeks ago Russians learned from state-run media that Mr Putin had saved a news crew from a tiger that was stalking the group (he reportedly tranquilised the animal) during a trip he made with scientists to the Russian Far East. Funny, no film footage was available on that one. Earlier episodes included a well-photographed bare-chested fly-fishing expedition and a ride in a fighter jet.
Which is not to say that Putin doesn’t take care to publicize his softer side—when feeling kind and cuddly he can always snuggle up to his pet tiger cub .
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Letters
Joshua T. Katz’s (“Pure Episcopalianism,” May 2025) reason for a theologically conservative person joining a theologically liberal…
The Revival of Patristics
On May 25, 1990, the renowned patristics scholar Charles Kannengiesser, S.J., delivered a lecture at the annual…
The Enduring Legacy of the Spanish Mystics
Last autumn, I spent a few days at my family’s coastal country house in northwestern Spain. The…
