'World's oldest man' celebrates 116th birthday

Ukrainian Hryhory Nestor celebrates his 116th birthday today and claims to be the world’s oldest man.

Nestor, from the small village of Stari Yarychiv, says his long life is due to clean living and a healthy diet.

He has never married, "preferring to remain single and move from one romance to another".

Nestor says his longevity is down to a diet of milk, cheese and potatoes and an outdoors lifestyle that involves sleeping under the summer skies and walking barefoot throughout the surrounding countryside.

He was born on March 15, 1891, and has lived under the Habsburg monarchy, the Polish Republic, the Soviet Union and now Ukrainian rule.

Nestor favours the Austro-Hungarian period, which came to an end in 1918 when the Habsburg domains were broken up following the end of the First World War.

“Things were best under Austria,” he said. “You could go where you wanted, live where you wanted.

"And there was work for everyone.”

The oldest validated living man is thought to be 111-year-old Tomoji Tanabe of Japan, who was born on September 18, 1895.