Аннотация:Public speech is for a politician a necessity which these days hardly anyone denies. While pursuing political goals the speaker has to rely more and more on his/her persuasion and negotiation skills and create his/her own verbal image which becomes part of the speaker’s individual image as a politician. However, in cases when the politician’s speech is translated the process of the speaker’s perception is greatly affected by the translator who has frequently to modify the linguistic expression of the politician’s speech in order to make it more suitable to the expectations of the audience and the context of communication. The paper considers the translator’s role as an image maker and constraints which are imposed on the process of public figures image correction. The data analyzed in this paper comprises the original and translated versions of speeches made by Russian political leaders.