Editing Vladimir Putin (section)

=== Cult of personality ===
{{Main|Public image of Vladimir Putin}}
{{See also|List of cults of personality}}
[[File:Putin with F1 bolid 11.jpg|thumb|Putin driving a [[Formula One car]], 2010 ([[:File:Vladimir Putin driving a Formula 1.ogv|video]])]]
Putin has cultivated a [[cult of personality]] for himself with an outdoorsy, athletic, [[Macho|tough guy]] [[Public image of Vladimir Putin|public image]], demonstrating his physical prowess and taking part in unusual or dangerous acts, such as extreme sports and interaction with wild animals,<ref name="abcnews.go.com">{{#invoke:cite|web|last = Bass |first = Sadie |url = https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/08/putin-bolsters-tough-guy-image-with-shirtless-photos/ |title = Putin Bolsters Tough Guy Image With Shirtless Photos, Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work = ABC News |date = 5 August 2009 |access-date = 22 June 2013 }}</ref> part of a public relations approach that, according to ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'', "deliberately cultivates the macho, take-charge [[superhero]] image".<ref name="Superputin">{{#invoke:cite|news|last = Rawnsley |first = Adam |title = Pow! Zam! Nyet! 'Superputin' Battles Terrorists, Protesters in Online Comic |url = https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/pow-zam-nyet-superputin-battles-terrorists-protesters-in-online-comic/ |access-date = 27 May 2011 |newspaper = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date = 26 May 2011 }}</ref> In 2007, the tabloid ''[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]'' published a huge photograph of a shirtless Putin vacationing in the Siberian mountains under the headline "Be Like Putin".<ref name="putin-shirtless">{{#invoke:cite|news|agency = Associated Press |url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-gone-wild-russia-abuzz-over-pics-of-shirtless-leader-1.639179 |title = Putin gone wild: Russia abuzz over pics of shirtless leader. |publisher = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date = 22 August 2007 |access-date = 2 March 2010 }}</ref>

Numerous [[Kremlinologists]] have accused Putin of seeking to create a cult of personality around himself, an accusation that the Kremlin has denied.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|last1 = Kravchenko |first1 = Stepan |last2 = Biryukov |first2 = Andrey |url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-13/putin-doesn-t-like-cult-of-personality-of-putin-kremlin-says |title = Putin Doesn't Like Cult of Personality of Putin, Kremlin Says |publisher = [[Bloomberg L.P.]] |date = 13 March 2020 |access-date = 3 August 2021 }}</ref> Some of Putin's activities have been criticised for being staged;<ref name=amphorae>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8808689/Vladimir-Putin-diving-discovery-was-staged-spokesman-admits.html ''Vladimir Putin diving discovery was staged, spokesman admits''], ''The Daily Telegraph''. Retrieved 16 March 2012.</ref><ref name="Fishy">{{#invoke:cite|news|url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-russia-putin-fish-idUKBRE96S0CY20130729 |title = Russians smell something fishy in Putin's latest stunt |work = Reuters |access-date = 12 August 2013 |date = 29 July 2013 }}</ref> outside of Russia, his macho image has been the subject of parody.<ref>{{#invoke:cite|news|first1 = Boris |last1 = Kavic |first2 = Marja |last2 = Novak |first3 = Jeremy |last3 = Gaunt |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-slovenia-putin-song-idUSKCN0W90Y0 |title = Slovenian comedian rocks with Putin parody; Trump to follow |work = [[Reuters]] |date = 8 March 2016 |access-date = 21 May 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|url = http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/03/a-senile-putin-becomes-a-parody-of-his-own-parody/ |title = A senile Putin becomes a parody of his own parody |date = 19 March 2016 |website = The Spectator |access-date = 18 May 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first = Maeve |last=Shearlaw |date = 9 September 2015 |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/09/putin-macho-stunt-fitness-fitspiration-instagam |website = [[The Guardian]] |title = Let Putin be your fitness inspiration hero }}</ref> Putin's height has been estimated by Kremlin insiders to be between {{convert|155|and|165|cm|ftin|abbr=off}} tall but is usually given at {{convert|170|cm|ftin|abbr=off}}.<ref name="height">{{#invoke:cite|web|last = Van Vugt |first = Mark |author-link = Mark van Vugt |date = 7 May 2014 |title = Does Putin Suffer From the Napoleon Complex? |url = http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/naturally-selected/201405/does-putin-suffer-the-napoleon-complex |access-date = 7 December 2018 |website = [[Psychology Today]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/18/world-leader-heights-tall |title = Statesmen and stature: how tall are our world leaders? |date = 18 October 2011 |website = [[The Guardian]] |access-date = 27 December 2018 }}</ref>

There are many songs about Putin,<ref>{{#invoke:cite|web|url = http://www.openspace.ru/music_modern/projects/112/details/593/ |title = Песни про Путина |website = Openspace.ru |date = 14 March 2008 |access-date = 7 May 2012 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090918192949/http://www.openspace.ru/music_modern/projects/112/details/593 |archive-date = 18 September 2009 }}</ref> and Putin's name and image are widely used in advertisement and product branding.<ref name="Superputin" /> Among the Putin-branded products are [[Putinka]] vodka, the [[PuTin (brand)|PuTin]] brand of canned food, the ''Gorbusha Putina'' [[caviar]], and a collection of T-shirts with his image.<ref>[http://www.gazeta.spb.ru/12122-0/ Как используется бренд "Путин": зажигалки, икра, футболки, консервированный перец] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402153600/http://www.gazeta.spb.ru/12122-0/ |date=2 April 2015 }} [[Gazeta (newspaper)|Gazeta]] 30 November 2007.</ref>