Putin's bare-chested photos set Russia abuzz

But few could have predicted the squall of gossip and speculation that would follow after Putin stripped off his shirt for the cameras while on holiday with Prince Albert II of Monaco in the Siberian mountains last week.

The resulting images of the presidential abs, prominently enshrined on the presidential Web site, inspired admiration, criticism and some racing pulses among his admirers.

Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that women who visited its Web site
posted comments on Putin's "vigorous torso" and said they "were
screaming with delight and showering (him) with compliments."