The saying goes ‘strong like mother Russia’, so we shouldn’t be surprised that Vladimir Putin likes to crush it at the gym from time to time.

He took some time off from piloting submarines, scoring goals for fun during ice hockey and belting out some classic tunes to klap a session at the state residence near Sochi.

Rather than go it alone he enlisted the help of Russian prime minister Dmitrty Medvedev, the pair enjoying a barbecue and some tea as a reward for their efforts. The Guardian reports:

Putin and Medvedev were seen barbecuing together following their workout – with the pictures aimed at shoring up Putin’s masculine image…

The two politicians were also shown having tea and toast together, rounding off the Russian leader’s latest PR charm offensive.

I kind of feel like Putin might want to leave tea-drinking sessions out of his next photo op if he’s trying to beef up his ‘masculine image’. He could always go back to riding a horse without a shirt on again, that seemed to do the trick last time.

[source:guardian]