Putin poses in sheepskin, drives a military truck and looks at wood on snowy Siberian retreat

Putin is known for routinely releasing series of hyper-masculine pictures

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin escaped to the snowy terrains of Siberia with his defence minister Sergei Shoigu at the weekend, where he was spotted dressed all in sheepskin, piloting an all-terrain vehicle through the woodland before carefully traversing a swaying rope bridge.

Images of the apparently laid-back president on his rural retreat came amid increased tensions with the US, whose newly elected president Joe Biden recently said that he believes his Russian counterpart is a “killer”.

In a video released by the Kremlin, the Russian president could be seen behind the wheel of military vehicle traversing the snow-clad terrain of a Siberian birch tree forest. The president, draped in the animal fur, also visited a wood workshop belonging to Mr Shoigu, where the latter showed him his handiwork.

Mr Putin was also photographed posing in knee-deep snow and the two leaders were later seen sitting down together for a cosy meal in the forest with vodka glasses and animal skins to warm their seats.

Mr Putin is known for routinely releasing series of hyper-masculine photos, aiming to project the image of a healthy, strong and robust leader.

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He last went hiking in the Siberian forest, for his 67th birthday, in 2019. He was shown then picking wild mushrooms near a spot overlooking the banks of the Yenisei River.

Earlier in 2018, he was photographed bare-chested, plunging into the icy water of Lake Seliger, as a part of a ritual to mark Orthodox Epiphany.

In April 2010, Mr Putin attached a satellite-tracking device on the collar of a tranquillised polar bear.

(AP)

In 2009, a bare-chested Mr Putin was seen riding a horse in southern Siberia’s Tuva region.

And in 2008, he was captured holding a tranquillised Siberian tiger’s head as scientists fitted it with a tracking device.