Russia President Vladimir Putin has become the main protagonist of a viral video set in the world of Half-Life 2.
Created by YouTuber eli_handle_b.wav, the video shows Putin superimposed on a number of the game’s most memorable locations: chilling in Dr. Wallace Breen’s Citadel office and walking through its halls, drawing graffiti in City 17, manoeuvring a speedboat through toxic sludge and fishing in the city’s outskirts, playing soccer with Dog, and sniping protagonist Gordan Freeman with a high-powered rifle.
At one point, a shirtless Putin is seen astride a Strider – a large-three-legged arthropod-like Combine Synth – one of the game’s most fearsome enemies – a nod to his famous trip to the southern Siberian region of Tuva in 2009, which has become the source of endless memes over the years. Toward the end of the video, Putin can be seen escaping the Citadel just before it explodes.
The Putin-themed video is the latest of eli_handle_b.wav’s videogame inspired creations. Since setting up the channel in August, the YouTuber has garnered over 2 million views with his videos of Walter White’s misadventures in City 17, Patrick Bateman in the Fallout 4 universe, and Austin Powers in Mass Effect.