By Rachel Lang
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are going to face-off in an MMA fight...well, sort of.
To be more precise, the lookalikes of the two world leaders will have committed to battling each other in Poland.
Royal Division held a press conference over the weekend to introduce the two fighters.
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The event was streamed live on YouTube and Facebook as the two competitors came face-to-face before addressing the crowd.
The upcoming clash between the fake Putin and Zelenskyy is expected to happen on April 30, and will take place in the Polish city of Opole at Stegu Arena.
The clash appears to be the brain child of Polish actor Antoni Krolikowski.
In a rather spiffy video released to promote the event, the Putin and Zelenskyy doppelgängers both arrive in fancy-pants SUVs, adorned with either Russian or Ukrainian flags.
Both were also accompanied by a set of burly 'bodyguards'.
In the footage, fake-Putin can be seen arriving first to a mixed response as he tries to rally the crowd. Following this frosty reception, fake-Zelenskyy came in and threw a MMA glove at his opponent.
The gloves really seem to be off for this one.
Things got a bit heated, with Krolikowski stepping in to separate the two pretend world leaders.
The strange take on Russia's invasion of Ukraine has divided social media, and apparently it is going down like a lead balloon in Poland.
The fight is supposedly to raise money to help Ukrainian refugees and those who have remained in the embattled country.
Polish illustrator Konrad Kachel has shared shots of the impersonator showdown on Twitter, revealing that many in Poland are disgusted by the MMA event.
"Obviously, everyone in Poland is s**tting on him with literally no positive comments [about]. the event," Kachel said.
"Everyone is outraged, disgusted, or otherwise disappointed. I'm talking about politicians, celebs and common folks."
The comic book illustrator then added 'if you fail, you fail real hard I guess', before adding this was not an April Fool's Day joke.
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Australia
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