Russian President Vladimir Putin with the deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, reportedly on November 4.Image: keystone
Current research shows: Russian President Vladimir Putin regularly passes off pre-produced meetings as current. But mistakes happen.
November 5, 2025, 7:35 p.mNovember 5, 2025, 7:35 p.m
Anna Von Stefenelli / watson.de
On the Kremlin’s official channels, it always seems as if Vladimir Putin is extremely busy. When the Russian president looks through files on television or speaks to governors, it is intended to send a signal to the public: the Kremlin ruler is always working. But not every video is authentic.
According to the independent Russian exile media “Meduza”, research by the investigative project “Sistema” suggests: The Kremlin regularly publishes pre-produced videos with Putin and sells them as real-time appointments.
Such clips are called “canned food” in Russia. According to journalists, this always happens when Putin actually doesn’t appear in public. Russian journalists had already documented similar cases last year – at that time, investigative reporter Farida Rustamova wrote that the practice had “taken on a new dimension”. Now examples are piling up again.
Putin’s timing: Fake video appears exactly on Kabaeva’s birthday
According to “Meduza”, citing “Sistema”, at least ten such videos were discovered in the months of April, May and from mid-August 2025 alone. The research is based on details in Putin’s study in the Kremlin: such as bookshelves and pencil cups, the contents of which visibly vary between appearances.
Anyone who sees footage of Vladimir Putin cannot always be sure that it is up to date.Image: keystone
When journalists compared the book order and the writing utensils, it was noticeable: Some books stood exactly the same for days, then disappeared or changed position – only to reappear later, millimeter-precise as before.
Particularly striking: The supposedly current videos are said to have been published specifically on days on which Putin would not otherwise appear. Around May 12, when Putin allegedly officially received the governor of the Ivanovo region.
On this day, Alina Kabaeva – the woman who has been considered Putin’s close confidante for years – celebrated her 42nd birthday. As “Meduza” reports, Kabaeva is repeatedly described as a possible partner and mother of his children; the Kremlin vehemently denies this. The journalists do not believe that it is a coincidence that such a fake video appeared on this very day.
Outfits, bracelets, earrings: details reveal fakes from the Kremlin
In new cases it was also noticed that state officials appear on release days in exactly the same outfits as they can be seen in the video with Putin. This suggests that they are being told to wear the same clothes again. This is intended to create the illusion of a current appointment. But apparently not everyone sticks to it without errors.
One example is Svetlana Chupsheva, head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. According to “Meduza”, she is said to have been involved in such recordings twice: in spring and autumn 2025. She wears the same black blazer with gold buttons in all the clips.
Svetlana Chupsheva.Image: keystone
Officially, three appointments took place in one day: meeting with Putin, government meeting, contract signing. But the books in the background and their accessories speak against it. Because: “Her earrings betrayed the ‘preservation’: she came to the Kremlin with one pair, and at other appointments she wore different ones,” the report says.
It was a similar situation with Svetlana Radionova, the head of the Russian environmental watchdog. She wears a bracelet in the Putin video. When she appears to be wearing the same clothes on the day of publication, she suddenly wears a watch and ring instead of a bracelet.
Another indication: An anthology of paratrooper poems will not appear on Putin’s shelf until August 2025. However, a meeting with Radionova that officially took place in October shows a shelf without this book. According to the “Meduza” report, the video was probably recorded in September at the latest.
Even Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Grigoryenko, who is said to have done everything right – he wore the same suit and the same watch – could not disguise the alleged “canned goods”. Here too, the military poetry book in question was missing in the background.
Fake videos for concealment: What’s behind the “canned food”.
According to Meduza, the Kremlin did not answer any questions on the topic. The method itself is not new and, according to experts, is strategically motivated: It is intended to convey that Putin is constantly working, even on days when he is apparently not visible at all.
Because presence is power – especially in authoritarian systems. And a president who doesn’t show up could trigger questions: Where is he? Why isn’t he performing? This would be extremely dangerous for Russian state propaganda. The answer could be these fake clips.
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