Why men are stripping naked in homage to Vladimir Putin
It's official. We've hit peak 2017. What will go down as one of the strangest years in recent memory has just got even stranger.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, likes to get his nips out. We know this. We've all seen the topless horse-riding photos and thought 'move aside Chuck Norris, there's a new world's manliest man in town'. Still, little did we know the men of Instagram would be inspired to follow suit and get their nips out in homage, under the hashtag #PutinShirtlessChallenge.
Why? Is the hashtag an uncritical endorsement of Russia's leader, or an ironic sideglance at his desperate need to assert his own masculinity?
Who knows. It's 2017, after all...
Сегодня у меня сюжет #putinshirtlesschallenge #reporter #tv #jajaja #lol #news
A post shared by Nikolay Sokolov (@sokolovnikolaytv) on Aug 15, 2017 at 4:40am PDT
Some are possibly taking things a bit too seriously. This one below feels like it's less inspired by Putin and more by the prospect of attracting more followers
A post shared by www.okmagazine.ru (@okmagazine_ru) on Aug 16, 2017 at 4:27am PDT
The best ones channel Putin's unwavering manliness. Who cares about abs when you have the chest hair of a grizzly bear?
A post shared by Капитонов Андрей (@kapitankapitonov) on Aug 16, 2017 at 11:01am PDT
There are now over 2,500 posts on Instagram dedicated to Putin's bare chest.
A post shared by Максим Куницын (@kunitsyn.maksim) on Aug 16, 2017 at 10:24am PDT
Remember, gentleman: there's still no one quite like the master.
good man no need for upper garment #putinshirtlesschallenge #victor
A post shared by @putinpics on Aug 16, 2017 at 12:51pm PDT
