Fab Vlad.

Yesterday shirtless photos of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin surfaced. I'm not going to lie, before these pictures surfaced, I knew almost nothing about Putin. His name, pretty much.

According to Times Online he "buffed up his action-man image". True statement. Vlad is... kind of a badass. Kind of how I imagine Andrew Jackson to have been, you know? Like if Indiana Jones was elected to office.

Putin turns 57 in November, and apparently, "The photos will inevitably trigger mass swooning by women all over Russia... They will also confirm the Russian Prime Minister’s status as a gay icon." Putin is a gay icon? You learn some new, strange facts every day I guess. You know Anderson Cooper was all over this (What? You don't know about Putin?!) and Erica Hill probably made some corny-ass joke that should make me hate her, but instead makes me just go, "oh Erica, you're so silly." Cannot fathom why I don't am not repelled by her. I'll put that in the same category as my attraction to Shia LeBoeuf.

The former KGB officer and Judo black belt was promoted as a symbol of revived Russian power in contrast to the era of his drunken and sickly predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.

Mr Putin was also following a Soviet tradition of lauding the prowess, usually imaginary, of party leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev, who was fond of hunting for bears and wild boar. He grew so incapable towards the end that KGB officers would drug and tether animals to trees so that Mr Brezhnev could shoot them. President Medvedev, who has previously expressed a love of yoga, has so far refrained from emulating his mentor by stripping off for the cameras.

The pictures were taken just days after Putin completed his latest action adventure by diving to the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake, in a mini-submarine.

During President Obama’s visit to Moscow last month Putin stole the limelight by joining a group of Hell’s Angels-style bikers called the Night Wolves. He dressed all in black, and pulled a wheelie.

That is so awesome. Vlad is on my new heroes list, along with Alexa Chung and Zooey.

Huh. I totally get the gay icon thing now.

-CE