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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is known for his displays of athletic prowess and daring feats, as well as the occasional croon before an audience. His visit this week to a Russian youth camp did not disappoint. Here are some of his most notable romps throughout Russia.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (c.) holds a crossbow as he hunts for whales from a motorboat in Olga Bay in the Sea of Japan, in this August 2010 file photo. (Alexei Druzhinin/Ria Novosti/Reuters/File)
Whale tracker
Putin, normally keen to show off his muscles, dressed warm in August 2010 when he went whale-tracking off Russia's east coast, in Olga Bay in the Sea of Japan. He joined members of the Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve studying the endangered gray whale.
Photos showed him perched at the stern of a rubber boat and holding a crossbow, which he used to fire a special dart to get a whale's skin sample.
"There was a real feeling of exhilaration," he told reporters afterward. "I missed three times but hit on the fourth attempt."
When questioned about the risks of riding over the rough seas, the former KGB spy reportedly answered: "Living in general is dangerous."
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