Internet maverick Pavel Durov is calling on Russians to take off their shirts in the footsteps of President Vladimir Putin.
Inspired by photos from Putin’s fishing trip to Siberia — during which the 64-year-old president undressed — the founder of the Vkontakte website and Telegram messenger service published a shirtless photograph of himself on Instagram in response.
“My Instagram had to seriously step up the game to keep up with the increased competition from Mr. Putin’s shirtless photos,” he wrote in English.
“If you’re Russian, you have to join #PutinShirtlessChallenge (or face oblivion). Two rules from Putin — no photoshop, no pumping. Otherwise you’re not an alpha.”
Russians were quick to respond. Within a day of the post, there were more than 360 shirtless photos — with some Russians clearly taking themselves more seriously than others.
Here’s a selection of the best ones so far.
Russian politician Dmitry Gudkov:
Durov sold his shares in Vkontakte in 2014 and left Russia after running foul of the authorities and proceeded to launch the encrypted messenger service, Telegram. In recent months, he once again clashed with the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor after it threatened to ban Telegram unless it officially registered with the Russian authorities.
Durov eventually agreed for Telegram to be registered, but said he would not grant authorities access to users' data.
