Plus-size Putin official goes viral: ‘Can’t push him out a window’
Make him disappear? Fat chance!
A newly appointed government chief in Russia went viral this week for his heavy-set stature — with internet trolls quipping it will be hard for Vladimir Putin to “push him out of a window.”
Putin’s plus-sized head of foreign aid, Igor Chaika, became the butt of dark jokes Tuesday after he appeared at a press conference looking large and in charge.
Photos show him dramatically dwarfing a microphone podium as he discussed Russia’s souring relationship with Armenia.
“Good luck to Putin managing to push this official out of a window,” one X user, WarMonitor, wisecracked alongside an image of Chaika’s massive physique.
The dark joke was a nod to the dozens of high-profile Russian officials, oligarchs and other critics of Putin who have died under suspicious circumstances — including reportedly falling from windows or balconies — since the start of the Ukraine war.
“This guy could occupy Crimea by literally standing in it,” another user teased— as others compared him to the “Family Guy’s” portly dad Peter Griffin.
“He’s big in Russia,” another wrote.
The image of Chaika at the podium was initially taken by state-run Russian media, but appeared to be doctored with AI in WarMonitor’s post to make him look even bigger online.
But the original photo, along with ones taken by Getty Images, show the hefty government honcho looming large next to colleagues.
In the press conference clip, he stood behind a bank of microphones branded with the state-run Russian news outlets Zvezda, Rossiya, RT and Sputnik.
Chaika is a prominent businessman and the son of former Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika.
He was appointed to lead the Rossotrudnichestvo — also known as Russia’s Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs.