Boy Of Five-Year-Old Smoking And Drinking Beer In Playground

Shocking pictures of a five-year-old boy smoking a cigarette and drinking what appears to be a can of beer have shocked internet users around the globe.

At first glance the photo looks like it could have been taken at any playground, with the youngster enjoying playing in a toy car, but look closely and the scene becomes far from normal.

Taken by a passer-by in the Russian city of Tyumen, in the oil-rich Oblast region, the child can be clearly seen lighting and then smoking a cigarette.

Sprawling in the toy car, he also holds what looks like a can of beer.

The picture was shared on social media, with the photographer adding a caption of: “I wonder if his parents are watching?”

With the post rapidly going viral across Russia, many users blamed the boy's parents along with the breakdown of the former Soviet Union.

One user, Tyumenka, said: “Small kids copy everything that caught their attention.

“There wasn't anything like that back in the Soviet times.”

Another Russian user named Stariy Tyumenets looked back fondly on the former union, saying: “In our happy Soviet childhood this would have been totally abnormal… unlike these days.”

The identity of the child has not been revealed, or whether the local authorities are following up the case.

It's not the first time a child has been pictured smoking cigarettes.

Two-year old Aldi Rizal was pictured in 2013 satisfying his 40-a-day habit.

-thesun