Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plunged into the depths of Lake Baikal aboard a mini-submersible on Saturday in a mission that adds a new dimension to his macho image. Putin, a judo black belt who has flown in a fighter aircraft and shot a Siberian tiger in the wild, descended 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) below the surface of the world's deepest lake to inspect potentially valuable gas crystals. “I haven't seen anything like that in my whole life. This is a very special feeling,” Putin told reporters on emerging from the deep-sea craft looking pale and a bit dizzy after spending more than 4.5 hours underwater. Asked if he planned to travel in space after his supersonic flight and deep-sea dive, Putin, dressed in blue overalls, said, “No, there is enough work here on earth.” Hidden on Lake Baikal's largely unexplored floor are large deposits of clathrate hydrate, crystals packed with one of Russia's most lucrative exports: natural gas. Scientists estimate Baikal hydrates contain over 1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, an amount comparable with the world's largest discovered gas fields. Mineral extraction is banned in Lake Baikal which is a nature reserve. The 56-year-old former KGB spy has cultivated his macho image, and polls show this has won him many admirers, especially among Russian women. In 2007, while president, he featured in magazines across the world after donning combat trousers stripped to the waist while on a fishing trip in the Yenisei River.
