Vladimir Putin - What lies behind Russia’s action man?

Putin governs Russia with all the panache of a Bond villain, says Dave Kenny. Or so his photoshoots suggest

THERE is an old Russian proverb that says: ‘The man who stole an altyn is hung, and the one who stole a poltinnik is praised.’

No, I haven’t a clue what a poltinnik is either. Or an altyn. According to my Russian dictionary, the phrase roughly translates as ‘The bigger the bollox you are, the better chance you have of getting away with it’.