A CHUBBY Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike has been called to up to fight in Ukraine after weight gain killed his budding acting career.
Former model and DiCaprio knock-off, Roman Burtsev, 41, has been ordered to join Vladimir Putin‘s army.
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The unemployed doppelganger who won modelling gigs playing the heartthrob American actor, saw his work opportunities melt away after he put on too much weight.
He had hoped that his role as a lookalike would bring him fame, fortune – and a wife and children.
Burtsev had achieved a degree of fame by starring in adverts, including one for Five Lakes vodka, where he appeared alongside a string of counterfeit products like an iPhone with a pear logo and a fake Adidas tracksuit, saying the only thing real in life is the spirit.
Prior to working as a DiCaprio clone, Burtsev was an IT specialist.
Before going to war, the lonely Russian DiCaprio still lived with his parents and a cat in a rented state-provided flat in Podolsk, near Moscow.
A picture shows tubby Burtsev – eight years younger than DiCaprio – already on the frontline clutching his army-issue gun.
He had been reduced to odd jobs at a marketplace and hardware store, but was short of money and was and was instead ordered to sign up for Putin’s troops
The mad dictator’s military recruitment is notorious for sending men to their deaths as “cannon fodder”.
The despot leader is desperate for troops, and is willing to pay £16,000 payment to fighters who receive qualifications, followed by £1,625 a month if they remain alive on the frontline.
If a fighter is killed, their family could qualify for up to £99,000.
It comes as a desperate Putin has begun recruiting murderers and rapists before a trial has been sent so they can fight in Ukraine.
It is the desperate despot’s latest bid to keep his meat-grinder churning as some 20,000 criminals are expected to join the frontline.
Putin has signed a bill that enables offenders to dodge prosecution and criminal proceedings against them if they enlist to fight in Ukraine.
The Russian president’s move, which comes after earlier attempts to recruit prisoners, aims to support the nation’s increasing losses in Ukraine as the government is struggling to attract fighters.
The measure was passed into law late on Wednesday and may see some 20,000 criminals going to the warfront from pre-trial detention centres, Russian investigative media outlet iStories reports.
It will see defendants who are currently on trial for serious crimes will now having the option to appeal to the court and have all charges against them erased if they sign a contract with the defence ministry to join the Russian military in Ukraine.
According to iStories, which cited anonymous military sources, Russian pre-trial detention facilities anticipate releasing 100 inmates apiece to join the fight, potentially contributing the 20,000 additional people to the national effort.
The State Duma defence committee leader, Andrei Kartapolov, who spearheaded the bill’s passage through parliament, labelled the measure as a means of allowing offenders to make amends to society.
“The person is essentially repenting for their crime,” he remarked, alluding to Russia‘s habit of enlisting prisoners in the early, most trying stages of the Second World War.
The new rule does not include any exclusions to pardonable crimes, with MPs who drafted the bill stating that the choice would be left to individual judges.
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