A Russian who won a string of acting and advertising roles as a Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike has been sent to fight in the war against Ukraine.
Roman Burtsev, 41, won modeling jobs playing the Hollywood star, but then saw his work decline.
The stuntman was initially affected by the pandemic when he gained too much weight to be convincing as DiCaprio while living in a two-bedroom apartment with his parents and cat.
Burtsev has failed to regain his former fame as the Russian face of the 49-year-old American and was instead ordered, like many unemployed men, to enlist in Vladimir Putin’s war.
A Russian who won a string of acting and advertising roles as a Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike has been sent to fight in the war against Ukraine. Roman Burtsev (pictured) won a modeling job playing the Hollywood star.
Now Burtsev has been ordered to join Vladimir Putin’s war. He had been doing odd jobs in a market. Here he appears in the photo in his military uniform.
The stuntman was initially affected by the pandemic when he gained too much weight to convince like DiCaprio. Burtsev has been unable to regain his former fame as the Russian face of the 49-year-old American.
He had been reduced to odd jobs at a market and a hardware store, but he was short of money.
The dictator’s military recruitment is known for sending men to their deaths as “cannon fodder.”
However, being a Putin fighter pays much higher than usual because the dictator is desperate to recruit new soldiers.
By signing a contract and undergoing training, you qualify for a payment of £16,000, followed by £1,625 a month for as long as you remain alive on the frontline.
If he is killed, his family could receive up to £99,000.
The dictator’s military recruitment is known for sending men to their deaths as “cannon fodder”
Before going to war, the reclusive Russian DiCaprio still lived with his parents and a cat in a state-rented apartment in Podolsk, near Moscow.
One image shows the stocky Burtsev, eight years younger than DiCaprio, already on the front line wielding his army sidearm.
Previously he had been an IT specialist.
Weight has been an issue since 2016, when he began cloning DiCaprio despite having 100 pounds of extra bulk.
He hoped that his role as a stuntman would bring him fame, fortune… and a wife and children.
But before going to war, the reclusive Russian DiCaprio still lived with his parents and a cat in a state-rented apartment in Podolsk, near Moscow.
Burtsev, who is single, promised to lose weight in 2021 and said he would be “on top” by “New Year 2022”, but two years later, it seems the chubby Russian still hasn’t managed to lose the extra weight.
He explained: ‘The problems started with the introduction of restrictions in April 2020 and now people have forgotten about me.
“I tried many methods to lose weight before I found my own and now I am in the process of losing weight.”
