Rogozin to Obama: You Have Unmanly Pets

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin is what in Internet-parlance is called a troll. He provokes opponents for no particular reason and pushes outlandish ideas for what seems like mostly his own amusement. Among other things, he’d like to colonize the moon.

And with Russia and the United States battling for the geopolitical future of Ukraine — will it or won’t it remain within Moscow’s sphere of influence? — President Barack Obama has become a favorite Rogozin target. On Thursday, he managed to really outdo himself, tweeting out a photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin with a mighty leopard-like creature and Obama with a froofy dog:

We have different values and allies pic.twitter.com/aJ1312jJNx

— Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) July 31, 2014

Russia, Rogozin would have you believe, is a bastion of male virility and strength. Meanwhile the West is weak, degenerate, and, mostly, gay. The European Union’s ambition to extend its influence into Ukraine, Rogozin argues, is part of a general project to spread secular values.

Putin intends to thwart that project, leopard in tow.