--- title: Vladimir Putin Photos Prove He Is An Action Figure description: He horseback rides shirtless! He arm wrestles! He pets gigantic whales! canonical: https://time.com/95422/vladimir-putin-action-figure/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-12T15:57:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:40.460Z og:title: 23 Pictures That Prove Vladimir Putin Thinks He's an Action Figure og:description: He horseback rides shirtless! He arm wrestles! He pets gigantic whales! og:url: https://time.com/95422/vladimir-putin-action-figure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7592156991ff13b/69868ee6cd6848c4c60949a6/vladimir-putin-ice-hockey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3245 og:image:height: 1825 og:image:alt: President Vladimir Putin participates in a gala ice hockey match between Russian amateur players and ice hockey stars during the Night Hockey league tournament in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, May 10, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 23 Pictures That Prove Vladimir Putin Thinks He's an Action Figure twitter:description: He horseback rides shirtless! He arm wrestles! He pets gigantic whales! twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7592156991ff13b/69868ee6cd6848c4c60949a6/vladimir-putin-ice-hockey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 23 Pictures That Prove Vladimir Putin Thinks He's an Action Figure > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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President Vladimir Putin participates in a gala ice hockey match between Russian amateur players and ice hockey stars during the Night Hockey league tournament in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, May 10, 2014. Alexey Druginyn—Ria Novosti/EPA by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 12, 2014 3:57 PM UTC  President Vladimir Putin participates in a gala ice hockey match between Russian amateur players and ice hockey stars during the Night Hockey league tournament in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, May 10, 2014. Alexey Druginyn—Ria Novosti/EPA  Russia's President Vladimir Putin submerges on board a C-Explorer 5 submersible to explore the sunken Russian Imperial Navy fregate Oleg, in the Gulf of Finland, July 15, 2013. Alexei Nikolsly—ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis  President Vladimir Putin holding a huge pike fish, after he caught it in the Tyva region on July 20, 2013 during his vacation. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/ Getty Images  Putin carries artifacts he recovered whilst diving at an archaeological site off the Taman peninsular in southern Russia, Aug. 10, 2011. Alexsey Druginyn/Pool—Ria Novosti/Reuters  Putin, center, scuba diving at the archaeological site, Aug. 10, 2011. Alexsey Druginyn/Pool—RIA Novosti/Reuters  As pro-Kremlin youth activists look on, Putin attempts to bend a pan during his visit to a summer camp run by the Nashi youth group at Lake Seliger in the central Tver region of Russia, Aug. 1, 2011. Alexei Nikolsky—AFP/Getty Images  Putin scales a climbing wall during his visit to the summer camp, located 248 miles north of Moscow, Aug. 1, 2011. Mikhail Metzel—AFP/Getty Images  Putin, left, prepares to arm wrestle during his Nashi camp visit, Aug. 1, 2011. Mikhail Metzel—AFP/Getty Images  Then Prime Minister Putin rides a horse in the foothills of Karatash, near the capital of the Khakassia region in Siberia, Feb. 25, 2010. Alexei Druzhinin/Pool—RIA Novosti/AP  Putin snowmobiles in Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia, Jan. 3, 2010. Alexei Druzhinin/Pool—RIA Novosti/AP  During a trip to Siberia, Putin, then 56, posed for a series of photographs showing off a variety of manly skills. Here, he pilots a motorboat in the waters outside Kyzyl, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Russian commentators noted that the photographs evoked associations with the mythic heroes of Russia, like the many horsemen who once rode the Russian steppe, defending it from foreign invaders, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin hooked at least one fish from this perch, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin prides himself on staying in peak physical condition, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  In the Russian press, this photo drew comparisons to Nightingale the Robber, a popular Russian folk character who lives in a nest and has mystical powers, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  The photographs were taken in the same region where Putin vacationed with Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2007\. During that trip, he was photographed shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer dart, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin's choice of a rustic vacation resonated with many Russians, who tend to be suspicious and resentful of the moneyed élite, Aug. 3, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Earlier in the trip, Putin visited the Architecture and Ethnography Museum in Irkutsk, where he worked with a pair of blacksmiths, Aug. 1, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  Putin strokes a beluga whale named Dasha at a conservation facility in Khabarovsk, July 31, 2009. Alexei Nikolsky—RIA Novosti/Reuters  Dasha is fitted with a satellite tracking device, courtesy of the Prime Minister, July 31, 2009. Alexei Nikolsky—RIA Novosti/Reuters  At majestic Lake Baikal, Putin descended 4,500 ft. (almost 1,400 m) to the bottom, Aug. 1, 2009. Alexey Druzhinin—AFP/Getty Images  The ostensible purpose of the four-hour underwater trip was to inspect crystals containing natural gas, Aug. 1, 2009. 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