On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was entertaining Jordanian royalty in Moscow, and engaging in critical discussions on the elusive search for Middle East peace.

Yet in the southern town of Volgodonsk, according to newspapers, residents swore they saw him walk into a local restaurant, causing waiters to drop their trays, startled at the unexpected presidential call.

They soon realised however, that the man behind the commotion was not President Putin. It was Anatoliy Gorbunov, a local television director, who looks uncannily like the Russian leader.

I could, if I ever get to meet him, tell him how people feel about him

Anatoliy Gorbunov

When the Russian television station TVS interviewed Mr Gorbunov, they found that he did not always derive pleasure from his likeness to the head of state.

"People have started whispering behind his back, pointing at him, taking pictures of him and asking him all sorts of questions, " the TV said.

Mr Gorbunov told the TV that he once took receptionists at a hotel by surprise, when he walked into the lobby to ask for directions.

"The staff there were having tea and the receptionist nearly dropped her cup. She got frightened and jumped to attention, then, of course, we had a good laugh," Mr Gorbunov said.

Surprised

In another incident, holidaymakers at a spa thought they were uncommonly lucky to be taking mud baths side by side with the head of the state.

Presidential lookalike gets away with traffic offences

And while sightseeing at the Red Square, the presidential lookalike noticed that his presence was attracting public interest, so he deliberately raised his voice as he spoke to his companion.

"We shall now finish with St Basil's Cathedral and then get back to the Kremlin," Mr Gorbunov said to his companion loudly.

Surprised and excited crowds immediately thronged around him, yelling "Vladimir Vladimirovich, is it you?"

The presidential lookalike says he gets favourable treatment from traffic policemen who do not always fine him for traffic offences. Instead they ask if he is related to the president.

The real deal has been entertained in Jordan

"I feel people's love for the president. I could, if I ever get to meet him, tell him how people feel about him," he told TVS.

But it is with his friends that Mr Gorbunov basks in his proxy celebrity status. They refer to him as Vladimir Vladimirovich, always allow him to speak first and listen to him attentively, he told the TV.

Mr Gorbunov said he likes skiing and is fond of the traditional cuisine: fish soup, crayfish and beer. But he says his real passion is cars. With help of some friends, he has made replica cars, that are exact copies of vintage cars.

He claims not to like politics at all and says that's a job for real presidents.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.