So, how's his soul looking now?

What did Putin say to Olmert the other day?

Президент РФ Владимир Путин решил поддержать израильского президента, оказавшегося в трудной ситуации после того, как полиция рекомендовала подготовить против него обвинительное заключение. Как сообщила газета «Коммерсант», во время встречи с премьер-министром Израиля Эхудом Ольмертом в момент, когда пресса уже покидала зал, Путин сказал: «Привет передайте своему президенту! Оказался очень мощный мужик! Десять женщин изнасиловал! Я никогда не ожидал от него! Он нас всех удивил! Мы все ему завидуем!» «Это именно тот случай, когда не веришь своим ушам», – отметил корреспондент «Ъ».

So. There you have it.

If you don't read Russian, here's my translation:

Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin has decided to support the Israeli president, who's found himself in a difficult spot after police recommended that he be indicted. As reported in the newspaper "Kommersant", during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after the press had begun to leave the hall, Putin said: "Give my regards to your president! He's proved to be a very powerful stud*! He's raped ten women! I never expected that from him! He's surprised us all! We all envy him!" "It was absolutely one of those moments when you can't believe your ears," the Kommersant correspondent said.

* the word is "muzhik", which means, literally, "a peasant man" - the classic Russian farmer, not smart but strong and earthy; it's also used to mean "a stud" or "a joker".

Key here: even the Russian correspondent who overheard it knew it wasn't a case of

"Russian is a very complicated language, sometimes it is very sensitive from the point of view of phrasing," as a Kremlin spokesman told the BBC, adding that the comments were meant as a joke and in "in no way meant that President Putin welcomes rape".

It's not all that complicated. The word "изнасиловать (iznasilovat')" is remarkable devoid of nuance. It means "to rape, assault; deflower; violate; outrage". There's no real shade of meaning there.

Nor with "удивить (udivit')" which means "to astonish; daze; surprise; knock out; take somebody's breath away; amaze", nor with "завидовать (zavidovat')", which is "to envy; be envious; begrudge; grudge; look through green glasses; covet". The sentences are simple, the syntax straightforward - it's not a complicated utterance.

In fact, if you're looking for nuance, try "muzhik" - "мощный мужик, moshzhnyj muzhik" - that's more like "vigorous stud" than the neutral "powerful man" that has been the general translation.

Was Putin joking? Probably - everybody laughed. But you know what? Jokes about rape are pretty damned common, and they aren't all that "complicated" or "sensitive" in their "phrasing". They're just jokes about the priveleges of power and the way men - some men - think of women. No, Putin doesn't welcome rape - probably. But he does think it's funny.

He's not laughing alone.

(English here and Russian here)