VLADIMIR Putin’s hypocrisy was this week made evident to eagle-eyed viewers who spotted a certain label stitched into his suit jacket.
The Russian president, 71, wore a £7,000 Italian Brioni suit at the Future Technologies Forum as he lectured Russians on the evil West.
During the forum on modern medical technologies, held at the World Trade Centre in Moscow on February 13 and 14, Putin raised his arm to demonstrate the act of drinking.
He intended to show the audience that a Russian person could drink with his hands trembling.
But lifting his right arm also exposed a label on the inside of his suit jacket, for Italian luxury menswear brand Brioni.
The Brioni suit would cost £7,000 before individual adjustments – compared with an average pension in Russia of £38.49.
Viewers were quick to point out the irony in the president lecturing Russians on the threat from Nato while wearing a product by a luxury house based in Italy, a Nato country.
Telegram channel Ne TV commented: “Putin talks about Nato’s desire to take over Russia, the corrupting influence of the West and the importance of import substitution in a Brioni suit from the Nato country of Italy.”
Putin famously hides his expensive tastes and wealth, including his palaces and fleet of ocean-going private yachts, from his people.
He has even ordered his officials to give up Western goods, leaving them with no choice but to use inferior Russian-made cars.
Based on the president’s choice of attire this week, it would seem he does not apply the same rules to himself.
The move comes after Nato military chief Admiral Rob Bauer warned that allied countries needed to prepare for an all-out war with Russia.
He said: “We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace.
“And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.”
Nato has now begun its largest war drill since the Cold War, Steadfast Defender 2024, which aims to test allied countries’ new defence plans and ability to quickly deploy forces.
The exercise currently underway across Europe involves armadas, fighter jet fleets and 90,000 troops conducting land, sea, air, cyber and space operations, all hoping to prove they are “ready” for a Russian attack.
Meanwhile, Nato countries Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have committed to building bunkers along their borders with Russia.
The decision followed warnings that Europe should ramp up its stock of weapons to “war-time levels”.
