The video – shot by the mother in Kazakhstan – shows the toddler holding a cigarette and a lighter.
He is stood in the front seat passenger’s footwell of a moving car – and does not appear to be wearing a seatbelt.
At first, the tot simply brings the lighter to the cigarette, trying to light it.
As his mother and an unidentified man laugh at his efforts, the smiling youngster tries to share the joke.
Then a man’s hand comes forward to take the lighter and light it up, although he refrains from doing so.
But after a few seconds, the toddler pulls a face and takes the cigarette out of his mouth.
The shocking footage has sparked outrage among social media users.