Vladimir Putin was in full macho-man mode again yesterday as he hit the road with a gang of ageing bikers.
The leather-clad Russian leader went cruising with the nationalist Night Wolves at a festival in Crimea, while in Moscow 40,000 people demonstrated against his rule.
Putin, 66, has previously been pictured flexing his muscles on a bare-chested horse ride and throwing a judo opponent about in efforts to create a hard-man image.
But his latest photo op seemed more like an audition for camp 70s disco band the Village People than the stunt of an all-action hero.
Putin later addressed his fellow bikers, but refused to comment on the largest protests against him in years in the Russian capital. The rally was the fourth consecutive weekend demonstration in Moscow.
Crowds chanted “down with the tsar”, waved Russian flags and demanded banned opposition candidates be allowed to run in the city’s election next month.
The rallies have seen hundreds of demonstrators detained by police with more arrested on Saturday.
