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EGOMANIAC PUTIN’S GOT A SHORT FUSE

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STRONG evidence exists vain Vladimir Putin’s monstrous and murderous invasion of Ukraine was triggered, in part, by a joke about the dictator’s watch!

In this case, the jokester is Ukraine’s gutsy leader Volodymyr Zelensky — who was a satirist and sitcom star before winning his country’s presidenti­al election by a 70 percent margin in 2019!

Zelensky burst Putin’s egotistica­l bubble on his hilarious sitcom, Servant of the People, which ran from 2015 to 2019 and is a cross between Veep, Saturday Night Live and Welcome Back, Kotter.

The premise revolves around Zelensky’s schoolteac­her character, whose rant against government corruption is secretly filmed by students and put on social media, where it goes viral. The stunned teacher then gets elected president — in a shocking forecast of real life.

During one episode, an aide offers the naive teacher turned president a choice of costly designer watches. The dazed teacher picks a Swiss-made Hublot, which can cost more than $43,000.

“Putin Hublot?” says Zelensky’s character, a reference to the Russian leader’s favorite watch brand.

Sounds innocent, but it was a joke at the Russian dictator’s expense. It’s a nod to a popular anti-Putin chant in Ukraine

— “Putin Huylo” — which means Putin’s a “dickhead.”

“This mild but subversive joke was enough for a Russian broadcaste­r to censor the scene when it started airing [in Russia] in 2019,” says a source.

“The omission was widely mocked and the series was subsequent­ly pulled — it was on the Russian broadcaste­r TNT’s air for exactly one day.”

A confident, secure man would laugh it off. But Putin’s no regular guy. He’s a narcissist, an insecure, 5-foot-6 squirt who poses for pictures of himself shirtless, horseback riding and doing manly stuff.

Deep down inside, he knows he’s a loser and a wuss so he tries to prove he’s macho by showing off his muscles, executing his buddies — and invading other countries!

But the sick joke’s on him! By any measuremen­t Bad Vlad still comes up short.

 ?? ?? Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky starred on Servant of the People for three seasons
Zelensky’s sitcom vanished from Russian TV after he joked about Putin’s timepiece
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky starred on Servant of the People for three seasons Zelensky’s sitcom vanished from Russian TV after he joked about Putin’s timepiece

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