The propaganda impact of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the occupied Ukrainian Donbass region was disrupted by a critical heckling.
“It’s all lies, it’s for the show,” can be heard barely audible from the background in a video distributed by the Kremlin about an alleged meeting between Putin and residents of the badly damaged Ukrainian port of Mariupol. Ukrainian and independent Russian media reported more about the clipping.
Reaction in Putin’s environment
According to the voice, it is a heckler. The woman cannot be seen in the video clip. However, it can be seen how people from Putin’s environment turn around after the call and give hand signals.
The video was actually supposed to show a “spontaneous” meeting between Putin and the residents of the Nevsky residential area in Mariupol, which was rebuilt after the destruction. The citizens gathered in front of Putin thank the Kremlin boss for the reconstruction. The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol was besieged and shelled for months after the start of the Russian war of aggression. In the course of the fighting, the city, which was home to 440,000 people before the war, was 90 percent destroyed.
