A video briefly appeared on the Kremlin’s website, with criticism of the Russian president’s visit to Mariupol heard in the background. Since then, the video was recut and the exclamation was removed.
The Kremlin has heavily edited the video of the Russian president Vladimir Putin from a weekend visit to occupied Mariupol, Ukraine.
Among other things, the part where a critical exclamation can be heard has been removed from the video.
The issue has been reported on, for example, by the opposition media Meduza (you will switch to another service). However, the original recording of Putin’s visit is spreading on Russian-language social media services, such as In Telegram (you switch to another service).
A visit in the dark hours of the night
Putin is said to have visited Russian-occupied Mariupol in Ukraine on the night between Saturday and Sunday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov according to the Russian news agency, the meeting with the residents took place “spontaneously”. Interfax (you switch to another service).
On Sunday, the Kremlin released a 28-minute recording of the meeting on its website. In addition, a video of Putin’s visit was shown on Russian state media.
In the videos, Putin greets the residents of the neighborhood in the dark of the night.
When Putin starts talking to the people, there is shouting in the background.
– All this is not true. This is all just a show, a female voice shouts.
Right after the event, video footage shows how the Russian vice president Marat Khusnullin starts to smile.
At the same time, the president’s security service begins to look around and the cameraman walks among the local residents.
Putin avoided the ruins
According to the Russian Meduza, the Kremlin has removed the original video from its website. A new 30-minute video has appeared instead.
The critical exclamation has been cut out. Instead, a comment from a woman who was present has been cut into the video.
With a new video (you will switch to another service) the woman says the residents are praying for Putin.
The video’s release date still shows March 19.
According to the Kremlin, Putin visited, among other things, Nevsky, which is located near the center of Mariupol.
The videos show Putin walking on the playground in the newly completed suburb. Judging by the pictures, it seems that there has been no war in Maripoli.
However, Mariupol is one of the Ukrainian cities that was heavily bombed by Russia at the very beginning of the war in 2022.
Russian Telegram channel (you will switch to another service)published comments from local residents about the visit. Many commented that Putin visited the only rebuilt part of the ruined city.
In addition, the commentators estimated that the visit had to be scheduled at night so that the destruction of the war could not be seen on video.
Also the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC (switch to another service) explained Putin’s route in the city with the help of video footage. According to the BBC, Putin avoided the ruins during his visit.
Ukraine criticized Putin’s weekend visit to Mariupol.
Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Herashchenko compared on Twitter (you will switch to another service) Putin’s visit to Mariupol dictator Adolf Hitler for a visit to Ukraine in 1941.
– We all know how that story ended, Herashchenko wrote.