07-12-2015 15:00

Recognise this handsome face? No, President Putin hasn’t just returned from a Caribbean holiday with a serious tan – this is his chocolate counterpart.

Nikita Gusev has been working on this sculpture made entirely from chocolate to be showcased in the Russian city of St Petersburg at its chocolate festival. He says that the Russian President and chocolate share many attributes – they can both be soft and malleable or very hard.

Around 70 kilograms of chocolate were needed to make the life-size sculpture. A first for Gusev, who’d only ever made small sculptures of Stalin, Catherine the Great and Michael Jackson.

Unfortunately, for the artist, Putin was too busy dealing with world affairs to sit for the sculpture, so he had to rely on studying photos of Vladimir at different angles instead.

But chocolate Putin isn’t alone – the sculptor also made a life-size model of his late labrador Connie to keep him company in his alternative confectionery reality.

Those hoping to sink their teeth into the president may be disappointed – the festival organisers are offering the statue to its muse, so it remains to be seen whether the Russian president will be indulging in some chocolate Putin.

Difficult words: counterpart (something similar – a friend, a copy, a version), attribute (a quality, a characteristic), malleable (soft and workable), late (dead), alternative (a different choice of something), confectionery (sweet), muse (an inspiration), it remains to be seen (it is not yet certain), indulge (to enjoy something very much).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com