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Moscow awoke to news that their president was going to don a white coat, a helmet and a beak, get in a hangglider, and lead a pack of endangered Siberian cranes (Grus leucogeranus), bred in captivity, on a test flight.

It’s hard to recall a time when a Putin stunt produced such widespread, hysterical laughter. The Russian-language internet, still the main forum of public discourse, crackled with laughter at the president’s expense.