Putin dwarfed by world’s tallest political leader as he meets 6ft 8in president - The Independent

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

Hidden high heels, controlled camera angles and shorter bodyguards - some of the methods that Russian president Vladimir Putin has reportedly used to conceal his real height.

But there was nowhere to hide when Putin stood next to Daniel Chapo, Mozambique's towering 6ft 8in president, who is believed to be the tallest world leader. At a comparatively diminutive 5ft 7in, Putin could not compete.

The two leaders shook hands at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Tuesday.

Chapo later shared pictures where he could be seen looming over Putin. But the president's official photographers shared a lower angle version that made him appear taller.

Putin’s apparent attempt to conceal his height was ridiculed on social media, where people depicted Chapo as the Lord of the Rings wizard Gandalf and Putin as a barefoot hobbit.

His height has often been noted when he poses next to celebrities and dignitaries for meetings and award ceremonies at the Kremlin.

Over the years, a number of reports have stated that he takes all kinds of measures to appear taller.

Yuri Shvets, one of his former classmates at the elite Andropov Institute of the KGB, previously described Putin as an insecure man whose obsession with his short stature shaped both his career and his leadership style.

He told Gordonua he was “literally tormented” by how short he was, adding that “insecurities never left him”.

Now a Kremlin critic, Shvets recalled the 2015 Minsk negotiations, where Putin appeared visibly uncomfortable sitting next to taller Western leaders like Angela Merkel and François Hollande.

“He looked like a schoolboy among adults,” he said. “That kind of psychological complex doesn’t fade - it defines you.”

Throughout his presidency, Putin has tried to maintain an action man persona - shirtless horseback riding in Siberia, judo photo-ops, pictures with Kalashnikovs and other staged stunts including a 2018 plunge into an icy lake to celebrate the Orthodox Epiphany.

It is designed to portray him as a healthy, resolute leader, contrasting with traditional perceptions of aging Russian demographics.

In 2022, former British prime minister Boris Johnson suggested Putin’s apparent obsession with portraying a macho image may have contributed to his declaring war on Ukraine.

Johnson described the leader as a “perfect example of toxic masculinity.”

“If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn’t, but if he were, I really don’t think he would’ve embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has,” he said.