President Vladimir Putin has teamed up with American action movie actor Steven Seagal to promote the Soviet-style regime of rigourous physical training for Russian schoolchildren.
Accompanied by the black-clad star of Under Siege and Above the Law, Putin, himself an avid sportsman, toured a newly-built complex at a prominent sambo martial arts training centre in Moscow.
After attending several training sessions, the Russian strongman said too many Russian children were sickly, noting they should take up sports to be able to defend themselves - and the country.
"We should not have any children who, as they say, sit on the bench during physical education classes. Everyone should practice sports, everyone without exception," Putin said at the Sambo-70 sports complex.
Sambo, a mixture of judo and wrestling, was the official in-house martial art of the KGB security services which Putin practised before switching to judo.
