Who says the Associated Press doesn't produce hard hitting reports from Russia anymore? Wow, Putin is having a rough couple of months here...
In its September "Sexy Rating" list, the glamor magazine ranks who it considers the 20 sexiest Russian politicians. At the top is Boris Nemtsov, a former leader of opposition party Union of the Right Forces now viewed by many as a spent force.It is rare that Putin loses out at home. A winner abroad — selected as Time's person of the year in 2007, and Vanity Fair's most powerful and influential figure of the year this month — Putin courts widespread popularity at home, having restored a sense of national pride and stability after the difficult post-Soviet years of Boris Yeltsin's rule.
"This is good news ... but I don't take it too seriously," said Nemtsov, who is pictured sitting on a bed, barefoot and dressed in a grey silk shirt and chinos. Although greying at the temples, that doesn't seem to put the voters off.
One of Putin's male fans is quoted as saying that Putin's "decisive, harsh and unbending" nature overcome his average looks to make him #2 sexyman. Seems like Russians are a nation of submissive masochists. Kinky.
BTW, Russians have also said they find Stalin very sexy. Indeed, I think it's been documented that some people find the flow of blood very erotic.
Curiously, Stalin (real surname Jugashvili) is an ethnic Georgian.