Here are some photos that prove it!
First of all, in Russia, don't try to paint Putin as anything other than manly, metaphorically, or literally. Here we see the painting that Russian law enforcement raided.
A visitor takes a picture of the artwork entitled "Travesty" by Konstantin Altunin at an exhibition at the Muzei Vlasti (Museum of Authorities) in St. Petersburg August 15, 2013. Overnight on August 26 several art installations, including the "Travesty" that depicts figures resembling Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, were confiscated by the police from Muzei Vlasti and shall be checked for extremist propaganda. The museum, which opened on August 15, was closed after the police visit, local media reported. Picture taken August 15, 2013.
You'll never catch Putin in a skirt, in fact, his persona is more like that of a lumberjack/warrior. Here Putin recharges on a visit to the Siberian Khakasiya region.
A 16-year veteran of the KGB, Putin knows his way around a gun. After his retirement in 1991, he rapidly rose through Russian politics to become top dog in the world's largest nation.
Here, Putin trains with an assault rifle simulator.
Here's Putin riding a Harley Davidson to a meeting with motorcycle enthusiasts in Crimea in 2010.
The high council of Russian bikers unanimously voted him into a Hells Angels rank. His nickname is "Abaddon," a Hebrew word that roughly translates to The Destroyer.
Putin likes speed; In 2010 he took a test drive of a Renault Formula One car at a racing track in Leningrad. He reached the maximum speed of 240 km per hour.
Here, Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ride a snowmobile at an Olympic alpine ski park. The pair will later hit the slopes.
He also led the Russian team in a "friendly" match against neighboring Finland. Here, he presents skates to the Finnish president Sauli Niinisto
Putin makes a slap shot right before a youth ice hockey tournament. Putin picked up the sport after promising the Russia men's junior ice hockey team he'd learn it following their win in the 2011 world tournament.
The man is also a sixth-degree Judo black belt. He also holds a second black belt in Kyokushin kaikan karate.
His signature Judo move is the Harai Goshi sweeping hip throw. He wrote a book on the form of combat.
Here, Putin educates a Judo student in the art of inflicting pain on enemies with his bare hands.
Still, he's not always the one in the arena. Here he adjudicates an arm wrestling match between two competitors at a Kremlin youth camp.
He swims in freezing Siberian lakes for fun.
Besides his love for hand-to-hand combat, Putin likes to relax by fishing.
Vladimir Putin fishes in the Yenisei River in Siberia as he makes a tour together with Prince Albert II of Monaco, August 13, 2007.
One of the Russian President's favorite hobbies is hunting, an he frequently goes on expeditions to aid researchers in tagging animals.
In 2008, Putin went on a tiger hunt in the Russian far-east as part of a scientific expedition.
He shot a tiger with a tranquilizer dart, which allowed the researchers to tag the big cat with a satellite tracker.
He's also shot a polar bear for science. This allowed researchers to tag and track the arctic bear.
If you haven't shook hands with a legit walrus, your name is something other than Vladimir Putin.
No beast is safe from an armed Vladimir Putin. He shot an endangered grey whale with a crossbow from a motorboat, again to help researchers track the animal.
He even goes below the water on expeditions to see some of Russia's historical shipwrecks.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) is seen through the glass of C-Explorer 5 submersible after a dive to see the remains of the naval frigate "Oleg", which sank in the 19th century, in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea July 15, 2013.
Putin stares down a young chick at an Agricultural Exposition.
Here Putin goes on an expedition to inspect the snow leopard's habitat.
He snagged this fish on the snow leopard expedition.
He also has found ways to help scientists tag creatures without shooting them. Here he feeds a Beluga whale named Dasha.
Here he is, attaching a satellite tracking device to Dasha shortly after.
He also attempted to help endangered Siberian cranes begin their migration routes by assisting them with a motorized hang glider.
It was altogether unsuccessful due to strong winds.
Putin is an avid horseback rider.
Here he rides a horse through a river in the Tyva Republic in the Siberian Federal District.
Putin takes in the scenic Siberian wilderness while shirtless on a horse.
Vladimir Putin again eschews a shirt while hiking along the Siberian Khemchik River in the summer.
Still, there's a lot more to Putin than shooting animals with tranquilizer guns while shirtless. Putin tickles the ivories for a crowd at the Theatre of Nations in Moscow. He often plays the patriotic song "From What The Motherland Begins?" and the "Anthem of Saint Petersburg," his hometown jam.
Putin is also a man of science. Here he SCUBA dives at an archaeological site.
The hunt was "successful," given that Putin found two amphorae that were placed there by the archaeologists beforehand.
Here Putin hikes beyond the Arctic Circle to meet with scientists measuring the impacts of global climate change.
There's also a softer side to the Russian President. Here, Putin strokes a two-month-old tiger cub he received as a birthday present at his Novo Ogaryovo residence outside of Moscow. It will soon go to a zoo.
Putin hosted a lavish tea party with an 8-year-old patient of the Rogachev Federal Research and Clinical Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology
The Russian President bottle-feeds young elk at a nature reserve.
And in this shot, Putin kicks back and relaxes with loyal second-in-command Dmitry Medvedev as they watch a soccer match.
When his long-time Judo coach died, Putin shooed away his security detail. Here, the man walks, and mourns, alone.
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Sometimes must look at what is happening in its territory, to judge that what happens elsewhere.
I personally do not particularly like poutine, journalists are not free from it, but when I see presstitute in the U.S. and Europe, I find that dictatorship level, poutine has a long way to go.
the power that big corporations and industry have over govt and peoples' lives are direct extensions of the choices that people make with their spending money and so forth... and we merely ask politicians to be the 'bad guys' in that exchange to avoid examining our own choices and lifestyles more closely.
putin is at least somewhat different. he directly and transparently prevents other parties and politicians from taking a turn at the wheel. actually, it's kind of nice that it's all out in the open, but let's just call a spade a spade, shall we?
obama and the european leadership do not commonly have dictatorial control over the election process AFAIK.