Senator François Patriat, of President Emmanual Macron's Renaissance party, initially thought it was a "Russian thing." On Friday, March 22, the photo taken by the president's official photographer, Soazig de La Moissonnière, and immortalizing the French leader jaw clenched, in the middle of a boxing training session, had already been circulating on social media for 24 hours. The internet was awash with embarrassment, mockery and wary looks at the size of the president's arm slugging it out on a punching bag in this black and white old-fashioned display of masculinity.

The photo was the talk of European capitals and Patriat himself had his doubts: "I squeezed his bicep on Wednesday evening to give him a kiss – it's not that big!" And yet, it is, the Elysée swears, certifying that the photo, like all those posted on de La Moissonnière's Instagram account, has not been edited.

Taken in the gym at La Lanterne, the Versailles residence where Macron and his wife like to spend their weekends, the photo is one of a series of "scenes from life," according to the Elysée, designed to demonstrate the head of state's love of sports. With four months to go before the Paris Olympics, the 46-year-old president wants to promote the image of a "sporting nation," insists the Palace.

Macron, who has been training in this combat sport for the past two years – a shared hobby with his former prime minister Edouard Philippe and former government spokesman Olivier Véran – is even said to have developed significant muscularity. "On weekends it's 100% sports," assured someone close to the French leader, who said he has noticed, with a touch of admiration, that the president's "old suits" have "tightened on him a bit."

After the astonishment, many Western capitals preferred to see it as a response to the Kremlin's campaign of destabilization. Since Macron spoke on February 26 of the possibility of sending "troops" to Kyiv, he has been the target of personal attacks by "Russian trolls," amplified by tweets from Dmitry Medvedev.

Putin's henchman describes Macron as a "zoological coward," frightened by the idea of an attack to the point of requiring "several pairs of underwear." The vulgarity is compounded by threats: Medvedev's messages foreshadow the "guillotine" or its equivalent, for the head of the armed forces.

The French president's vigorous hook allegedly is a counterpart to the Kremlin master's propaganda showing Putin shirtless on a horse or fishing for a "21 kg" pike. "Emmanuel Macron's photo puts him in the posture of a 'fighter,'" reported French news channel LCI. "Macron flexes his ultimate virility," ran the front page headline of the Daily Telegraph on March 22, seeing in this photo the illustration of the French president's passage from dove to hawk in his relationship with Moscow. "'Rocky Macron' sending a message to Putin?" asked the Swiss-German daily Tages-Anzeiger, lamenting "that it wasn't actually a hoax."

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