Did a Russian News Anchor Flip President Obama the Bird?

"You call this borscht?"
 

Update: The news commentator Tatyana Limanova has since been released from her job with the Russian television network REN-TV over the incident. In an official statement, the network calls the anchor's actions  unacceptable and unprofessional, saying: "On 14 November during the 'News 24' program the presenter Tatyana Limanova made an unacceptable gesture that was a synonym for an offensive expression." No word from Ms. Limanova's camp...

In today's Super Hot to the Extreme Viral Video, we have an interesting clip out of Russia.

It seems a well-respected Russian news anchor decided to give the middle finger in the middle of a story concerning President Obama! The video has been a big hit in Russia, where the relationship with the US is viewed as being as frosty as the Siberian tundra.

In the video, award-winning Russian news commentator Tatyana Limanova is seen reporting a story about Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who had just assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Asia Pacific Cooperation organization. She then mentions that President Barack Obama held the post previously, as she raises her left hand and then slowly extends her middle finger, an obscene gesture commonly referred to as "flipping the bird".  The network, REN TV, has refused to comment about the incident, but reports have stated that the anchor thought she was off camera at the time and was actually making the gesture to crew members in the studio who were playing a joke on her.

The network can be seen in over 120 million homes within Russia and has traditionally been perceived as a more liberal channel in a country where TV content is tightly controlled by the state. You can catch the little birdie fly in the video below: