They call him ‘Bazooka Arms’

Meet the 21-year-old Russian man risking life and limb(s) for a shot at fame and fortune

On December 1, the Russian television network Rossiya aired a report about Kirill Tereshin, a 21-year-old man in Pyatigorsk who’s “bulked up” his arms by injecting them with a homemade mix analogous to site enhancement oil (commonly known as “synthol”), which some bodybuilders use to mimic the appearance of well-developed muscles. Tereshin’s subscribers on social media and his friends and family have expressed concern for his health, as synthol can be extremely dangerous. There are even worries that Tereshin’s continued injections could necessitate the amputation of his arms. Online and in the media, Russians have discussed the young man’s risky campaign to win fame and fortune, and the TV network Rossiya says it's preparing follow-up news segments about his “transformation.” Meduza spoke to Tereshin to find out how life for “Mr. Synthol” has changed since he became a television star, and to learn about his plans for the future.

For Internet glory

Twenty-one-year-old Pyatigorsk native Kirill Tereshin became famous thanks to his YouTube channel “Slacker” and his Instagram page, where he discusses his own experiments on increasing muscle volume. Tereshin has injected his biceps and triceps with a substance analogous to synthol, a site enhancement oil that some bodybuilders use to “fluff” lagging parts of their physique. The young man claims he was able to grow the circumference of his biceps to 58 centimeters (almost 23 inches) in just two weeks. He calls the process “body transformation.”

Not everybody subscribes to Tereshin’s social media to support him. Plenty of people sign up to criticize and ridicule him, nicknaming him the “Synthol King,” “Russian Hulk,” and “Inflatable He-Man.” In the news, he's known as “Bazooka Arms,” which rhymes wonderfully in Russian: Ruki-Bazuki.

Tereshin is also paid to star in short videos, which he calls “video greetings.” For each message (like this one or this one, where Tereshin brandishes his biceps and performs a patented one-two combo and uppercut), he earns 3,000 rubles (about $50). Tereshin films nearly a dozen of these videos every day.

In early December, Kirill Tereshin appeared on Rossiya’s television program “Live with Andrey Malakhov” in a broadcast titled “Bazooka Arms: For Internet Glory.” The show also featured Tereshin’s mother, one of his close friends, “freak bodybuilder” Alexander Shpak, and the decorated geneticist Evgeny Lilin.

On TV, Tereshin explained that he “bulked up” his arms using a homemade mixture of olive oil, benzyl alcohol, and lidocaine. He says he pumped six liters (1.6 gallons) of the concoction into his arms. Tereshin’s mother, Irina, told TV viewers that she’s categorically opposed to her son’s “transformation,” and said he’s become a guinea pig for his cold-blooded subscribers online. Evgeny Lilin confirmed Irina’s fears about the health risks of Tereshin’s body modifications, assuring the young man that his actions could lead to abscesses, phlegmon, a stroke, and even the amputation of his arms.

Before the show, Tereshin underwent an MRI. Sofiya Pilskaya, the head physician at the International Biological Systems Institute’s Diagnostic and Treatment Center, reviewed the MRI results and informed Tereshin that the muscle tissue in his arms has been pathologically altered. She found abscesses, unabsorbed oil in the tissue, and blood clots from ruptured blood vessels. Every medical expert the television network consulted urged Tereshin to cease his injections immediately.

The doctors’ dire warnings didn’t faze Tereshin, who used the televised platform to announce that he would soon increase the circumference of his biceps to 65 centimeters, cover his body in tattoos, get a split tongue “like a lizard,” pierce his left ear, make one of his eyes yellow and the other blue, dye his hair “chameleon,” and get a mohawk. He told the show’s viewers that the point of his body transformation isn't to become beautiful or strong, but to become famous, so he can earn millions and never have to return to his old job. What did he used to do? When he got back from the army, Tereshin says he worked as a security guard at an electronics store and also as a packer at a clothing market in Pyatigorsk, earning about 14,500 rubles ($250) a month.

“Things are only going to get cooler”

After his debut on network television, Tereshin started posting conflicting reports about his health. For example, he shared a photograph showing his arms wrapped in compresses with the caption, “The bazookas are toast. I removed them along with [my] Instagram.” The photo prompted some media outlets to report that Tereshin had finally stopped his synthol injections, but eight hours later he published a new photo revealing that his arms remained as inflated as ever. This time, he wrote, “The bazookas live! The bazookas will live on!”

On December 6, Tereshin appeared in an episode of the YouTube channel “The Lyudi” (The People), drawing more than 3 million views. On the show, he said he invented the “fake news” about amputating his “bazookas” to get everyone talking about him again. Tereshin claims he earned a million rubles ($17,000) “thanks to the hype” that followed his television debut, noting that he’s able to live off less than 100 rubles ($1.70) a day. He’s also started charging an extra 1,000 rubles for each “video greeting” and begun filming paid endorsements, like this advertisement for oil changes at an auto service in Norilsk and this video for a tattoo parlor in St. Petersburg.

Tereshin says he likes being famous. Since appearing on network television, women admirers from cities across the country have been writing him, sending him nude photos and asking to meet in person. As a rule, he declines, because he says he doesn’t want to make the trip to another city. Tereshin claims he was also offered 20 million rubles ($340,000) to star in an American adult film, but he refused, comparing pornography to pedophilia.

In his interview with “The Lyudi,” Tereshin said he feels fine, though he’s been managing a 38ºC (100.4ºF) temperature for the past several months, which he believes is the body’s normal reaction to a foreign substance. Tereshin also revealed that he’s agreed with Andrey Malakhov’s TV show that the network will get him implants, if he stops his synthol injections. An anonymous staffer from the program told Meduza that showrunners are planning to devote another episode to Tereshin’s body modifications.

Representatives for Rossiya confirmed to Meduza that the network plans to devote at least one more broadcast of Malakhov’s show to Kirill Tereshin, and possibly even a whole series. “The program has an agreement with a clinic that is ready to perform the operation. Of course, the show continues to follow news about this individual and wants to film more episodes [about him],” a network spokesperson told Meduza. The network refused to name the clinic in the deal, saying this was commercial information, but the station's spokesperson implied that it is the “Vremya Krasoty” (Beauty Time) clinic, whose co-owner, Yana Laputina, appeared at the end of the episode about Tereshin.

Meduza contacted Kirill Tereshin, who said he’s still planning on further alterations to his appearance. At first, he told us that he was only willing to grant an interview in exchange for money, explaining that he is “a famous person and things are only going to get cooler.” Ultimately, however, he did agree to answer some questions for free, telling us that he plans to “make his face into an alien’s” and is already planning an operation to remove certain facial bones and insert implants.

Tereshin told Meduza that he receives money for public appearances and interviews with journalists. He claims he was paid 100,000 rubles ($1,700) “in cash” for appearing on Rossiya. When he’s completed his “final transformation,” he says he will charge reporters 500,000 rubles ($8,520) per hour for interviews.

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“If Kirill has dysmorphophobia, there’s no point in torturing him”

Meduza also contacted the public relations director of the Vremya Krasoty clinic, Daria Krasovskaya, who discussed Tereshin’s case.

Are you planning to perform an operation on Kirill Tereshin? Who is paying for it?

Yes, we have an agreement along these lines with Rossiya’s “Live” program. We are prepared to assume most of the costs, meaning that we will perform the operation for free, and the television network will cover the costs of his rehabilitation. It’s still unclear exactly what operations he needs, and we still haven’t settled this concretely. In any event, the costs are significantly lower than the sums Tereshin has described.

Has your clinic ever performed such operations before?

No. Tereshin would be our clinic’s first “freak” [a word that Tereshin himself has embraced]. And he’s the first client we’ve ever had who is asking for implants in his arms and shoulders. But this isn’t the first time our clinic has helped a client free of charge. Last year, for example, we were approached by a woman from Chechnya who many years ago lost her breasts in a military operation. We performed her mammoplasty for free.

What do male clients usually want to modify about their appearance?

We’re generally approached by affluent men who ask for implants in their buttocks and calves. And there are also people who are unhappy with the shape of their ears or nose and want to make a change.

And actually it will be important to evaluate Kirill Tereshin’s psychological health ahead of any surgical procedure, to verify that he isn’t suffering from some mental illness. For example, there’s a disorder called dysmorphophobia, where people completely reject their own appearance. If Kirill suffers from this, then there’s no point in torturing him with operations. Whatever we do, he’d be unhappy with his body.

Story by Irina Kravtsova, translation by Kevin Rothrock