This Exists: Moscow University Journalism Students Honor Putin By Posing For Sultry Calendar

Well, that’s one way to make headlines. Julia Ioffe‘s “Moscow Diaries” blog ran an item yesterday about a group of female journalism students from Moscow State University (or MGU) who decided to give Vladimir Putin a… unique birthday present: a calendar featuring half-naked pictures of them.

Though MGU’s journalism department is apparently “known to be a bastion of liberal opposition,” Ioffe writes that many of the journalists there aren’t actually anti-Putin.

“Some may even like the Pres– Prime Minister — like court hagiographer Andrei Kolesnikov. Some may even like him so much that they get down to their uber-lacy, complex skivvies (natch) and stand in front of industrial-size fans for him,” she goes on.

Vladimir Tabak, an MGU Journalism alum, had the idea for the calendar. He took the photos along with a female collaborator, Ksenya Salezneva, a sophomore who also happens to be Miss December. Tabak denies the idea that the calendar might be pushing any sort of partisan message: “It’s not political… It’s not even campaign season. It’s just a beautiful present that any man would like.”

Check out “Moscow Diaries” for a more thorough analysis of the calendar—and, of course, to see a few more pictures of nearly nude Russian ladies.

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