Khodorkovsky & Lebedev Communications Center

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has spent much of the summer cultivating his image as a rugged leader. This week he drove 2,000 kilometers across Siberia in a Lada Kalina, intended to boost Russia's flailing car industry and his own ratings ahead of a possible presidential comeback.

But Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty comments that it was not a smooth ride. Three identical Lada Kalinas, one of them on a tow truck, have appeared on the Internet, in sharp contrast with official Russian television reports, which showed a lone Putin riding his Lada across the vast Siberian expanses. In addition, the clip also features huge numbers of official vehicles accompanying Putin.