Days after announcement of US sanctions on Russia, the country’s deputy prime minister challenges US president’s masculinty by tweeting picture of Putin with a leopard and Obama with a poodle
One Russian leader has made it very clear what the Kremlin thinks of the US in a tweet mocking their president’s masculinity.
In a strange display of one upmanship, deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin posted a picture on his Twitter account of President Vladimir Putin petting a leopard next to one of Mr Obama holding a fluffy poodle, with the caption “we have different values and allies.”
The post, which was meant as a dig at the US President’s unequal manly status, was retweeted more than 600 times in two hours.
The photo of the Russian head of state was taken during the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics last year, when Mr Putin visited endangered Persian leopards, while the Obama photo was reportedly taken while he was running for the Senate.
In an earlier tweet, Mr Rogozin posted a Youtube video about his country’s military might – a short history of the Russian-made Ural tank.
TANKS. THE URALS CHARACTER part II http://t.co/KOSZCZd6aB
— Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) July 31, 2014
Mr Putin has for many years tried to cultivate a manly image, and has previously released photographs showing him hang-gliding with migratory birds, hugging polar bears and posing topless on horseback.
The post comes days after the EU and the US announced further economic sanctions against Russia over its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine. who Western governments believe were behind the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet.
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