A bust of Vladmir Putin, depicting the Russian leader dressed as a Roman emperor, is to be unveiled in St Petersburg. The Roman-style statue is being gifted by St.Petersburg’s fiercely nationalist Cossack community to commemorate the allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. The comparison of the strongman with the leaders of ancient Rome was in-part inspired by Putin’s decision to back pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine,Newsweek reported. The clay mould was designed by a St. Petersburg sculptor, backed by the city's popular Cossack community . The bust is at the St Petersburg's Academy of arts, ahead to its unveiling at an underground station . St Petersburg’s traditionalist Cossack group Irbis, a popular organisation supporting Slavic military values, said the bust of Putin will be placed at an underground station in north St Petersburg. The city, formally Leningrad, is Putin’s home town. The bust’s designer, sculptor Pavel Greshnikov, was quoted as saying he had considered portraying the Russian leader in a suit and tie, in military fatigues and even in medieval armour. The statue is complete with a laurel wreath and other trappings of the Roman Empire. It is at Greshinov’s workshop at the St Petersburg Academy of arts, ahead to its unveiling. Putin may have upset some people with his Ukrainian activities, but in his hometown he is still popular . Cossacks have grown in popularity in Russian since the fall of communism in the 80s and 90s. The group, which prides itself on military valour and its Russian Orthodox Christian roots, has particularly warmed to Putin’s increasingly traditional values. Andrey Polykov, a local Cossack leader in St Petersburg, backed the creation of the Putin Statue. Lenin was commemorated in bronze throughout the USSR. However in many places the statues were torn down after the fall of communism . He was quoted as saying the Russian leader was one of the country’s ‘brightest’ and most ‘positive’ heads of state for ‘the last hundred years or so’. Polykov claimed Putin had a record as a peacemaker following wars in Georgia in 2008 and Moldova in the early 1990s. Boris Yeltsin, Putin’s predecessor, has also been immortalised in sculpture. A statue of the post-Soviet leader was erected in Yekaterinburg in 2011. Andrey Polyakov said his Cossack community had been planning for a long time to erect the Putin statue .
Vladmir Putin to be shown in a laurel wreath and a wearing a Roman tunic . Cossacks chose the St Petersburg statue to mark victory against Nazis . Traditional group said the idea was inspired by Putin's stance on Ukraine . Sculptor said he considered putting Putin in a suit of armour or in fatigues .