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Putin – the blonde Italian politician hoping to cash in on her name
Adelina Putin, a glamorous DJ and aspiring politician in Italy, aims to cash in on sharing the same surname as Vladimir Putin
They are both blonde, have a passion for posing with automatic weapons and love showing off their carefully-honed physiques. They may even be related.
Adelina Putin, an Italian disc jockey and radio personality, is taking full advantage of her reputed family ties to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, as she tries to break into politics.
She is campaigning for next week's regional elections and hopes to be elected as a councillor for the Right-wing Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party in Veneto, the region in northern Italy that encompasses Venice and Verona.
Adelina Putin (left) and Vladimir Putin (right) (Instagram)
Heavily tattooed and described by the Italian press as "La sexy cugina di Putin" (Putin's sexy cousin), her election campaign slogan is: "If you want to vote Putin, now you can".
She claims to be related to the Russian leader – possibly through craftsmen from the Veneto region who were recruited by Peter the Great to build St Petersburg in the 18th century.
"We are distant cousins," she told the Italian press. "I've always loved my surname, but I've liked it even more since Vladimir came on the scene. My relatives and I have discovered lots of links with him." There may, however, be a more prosaic explanation – "putin" is a word in the dialect of Veneto that means child or toddler.
Still, they have many interests in common.
"I love weapons, I go to the shooting range, I practise body building and rock climbing," said Miss Putin.
The tattooed dj is a keen bodybuilder (Instagram)
"I admire his decisiveness, his way of resolving issues. He has the character of a true leader. In Italy we really could do with a Putin, a man or a woman of his calibre.
"In fact we need at least seven Putins, to heal the wounds of the last 40 years of Italy's history. He can seem like a bit of a dictator, but as far as I'm concerned he's a great man."