Video of the Russian president a few days after the failed Wagner mutiny. Several observers do not question the identity, but underline the change in communication strategy of the Russian leader (and draw a parallel with the welcome given to Prigozhin in the city of Rostov on Saturday)
Four days after the attempted armed mutiny of WagnerRussian President Vladimir Putin left Moscow for the first time on a trip to the Caucasian republic of Dagestan.
In the videos released by the Kremlin, President Putin is seen in the crowd shaking hands and taking selfies.
Unusual images for a leader who, even during official meetings, is usually filmed and photographed at a safe distance from his interlocutors.
This is also why many people on the net raise doubts: there are those who argue that the one filmed in Dagestan is not actually Putin, but a double.
Several observers do not go so far as to question the identity of the protagonist of the video, but rather focus on the difference in Putin’s behavior.
“Because Putin, in Dagestan, was so unlike Putin – that is: so close to the crowd, and so ‘personal'”, asks, for example, the BBC’s Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg. And Max Seddon, correspondent for the Financial Times, notes that “Putin’s appearance in front of an adoring crowd” seems to be a response “to the way Wagner was received in Rostov”.
June 29, 2023 – Updated June 29, 2023, 12:49 am
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