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Moscow: Vladimir Putin has enhanced his image as Russia's leading sex symbol after a magazine wholly dedicated to his virility and reputation as a "vampire" rapidly sold out in the kiosks of Moscow.
Feeding on an almost cultlike obsession among the Russian people for their inscrutable prime minister, the celebrity gossip magazine Secrets of the Stars released a special edition eulogising the former KGB officer.
The cover, carrying a picture of Putin looking unnaturally youthful accompanied by the headline "My heart is on my sleeve", alone seemed sufficiently tantalising to appeal to most patriotic Russians.
Topless prime minister
Add to that a free poster of the topless prime minister fishing, promises of revelations about his wild youth including a visit to a Hamburg strip club, romances with women plus a guide on "how to become Putin" and the magazine looked set to break circulation records.
Most intriguingly of all, the cover promised a story about Putin's wife entitled: "Ludmila Putin: My husband is a vampire."
The issue, which has flown off news stands, highlights how Putin, the prime minister since May 8, has eclipsed Dmitry Medvedev, his successor as Russian president.
"We have created a monument to Putin for the common people," the magazine's chief editor, Roman Popov, said.
"We wanted to show him as a pragmatic man who likes a good joke and who is strong and beautiful."
Earlier in the year, the magazine broke its circulation record with 400,000 copies sold when it released an issue with a bare-chested Putin on its cover.
This time the magazine has outdone itself, carrying numerous photos of the prime minister in heroic poses, kayaking, swimming with dolphins and arm wrestling, under the headline: "Sometimes he's just so cool".
"There's not a single woman who would not dream of embracing and kissing Vladimir Vladimirovich and hearing his declaration of love," the article said.
A great deal of attention was given to Ludmila Putin, his wife, who won praise for her ability to "cook, clean and knit'".
Model husband
Quoting a German friend, Ludmila Putin reportedly praised the prime minister as a model husband because he did not beat her, but also noted that he was an unemotional "vampire" who "sucked all the juices" out of her.
Alongside the magazine's many photographs, articles charted the noble course of Putin's life. Under one, headlined "I severed its head with one blow", the magazine approvingly reported how Putin killed rats and, as a boy, beheaded a duck with an axe. Showing his merciful side, the young Vladimir also rescued three kittens from being drowned.
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