Putin at the Russian Federation’s State Awards ceremony . 23.02.2025

This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.

The fictional narratives attributed to the Russian president are dominated by messages of division, conflict, the creation of an image of Europe as an attacked state with an identity in crisis, with media outlets that allegedly lie and with the intention to break away from Christianity, and break up family. In all cases where these false speeches are spread, it comes from Facebook profiles that cannot be said to be somehow related, but are sporadic. However, they jointly and in parallel place unverified and harmful disinformation that does not aim to present to the citizens the factual situation, but to take a pro-Russian side whether it is about the military invasion of Ukraine or other issues

Author: Miroslava Simonovska

From time to time, an extremely viral post appears across social networks, usually accompanied by a photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and presented almost always, without exception, as his address to the world, to the wider community. These are non-existent or invented speeches, which always spread anti-Western sentiment, ignite feelings contradicting the European Union and the West and are full of fictions and conspiracy theories. The false speeches attributed to Putin appear at least once a year, sometimes even more often, and always serve as weapons of anti-Western propaganda.

The last one we noted was posted at the end of February this year. When its elements are analyzed, several key “messages” can be drawn. First, it is stated at the very beginning that the speech was “broadcast by independent Italian media outlets” in order to present a false image that there are also non-independent media outlets which would never broadcast the Russian president’s speech. The truth is, however, that Putin’s speeches that are real, can be found and are extensively covered by media outlets in the Balkans, especially those in Serbia, and then translated into Macedonian. The real speeches of the Russian president can be searched and found by any citizen on the official website of the Russian government, which is not the case with this particular one. The reason is not that the non-independent media outlets censored or covered it up but simply because Putin never gave such a speech. Furthermore, in this latest fake speech by Putin, the false conspiracy theory that “there is a satanic plan by the world’s states to reduce the world’s population” is being revived. Another significant element present in the fabricated narrative is family values. The following words, which were never actually said by him, are attributed to Putin:

Fathers and mothers and children. What kind of monster convinces a family to have their son’s genitals removed so he can one day feel like a little girl? What does a small, underdeveloped child know in order to make decisions about his or her sexual identity? What kind of animal is it that convinces Western countries to open their doors to Islamic terrorists from the Islamic state? You chip people’s brains with your media houses and TVs that lie and lie and lie. You are allowing Islamic terrorism to take innocent lives. You yourself are deliberately attacking your culture and your values. You want to destroy Christianity, knowing that by bringing those from the other side, they will impose Islam, fear, and terror.

In false speeches, old narratives against the West are amplified for its new discredit

The fictional narratives attributed to the Russian president are dominated by messages of division, conflict, the creation of an image of Europe as an attacked state with an identity in crisis, with media outlets that allegedly lie and with the intention to break away from Christianity and break up family. The truth, however, is that all European Union countries have anti-terrorist policies and units, advocate against terrorism, and accept migrants according to procedures and without discrimination. Citizens’ religion is a free category mostly separated from the state.

It is an act of propaganda to correlate an act of terrorism with immigration, because terrorism knows no borders, and the European continent for years has been a field where citizens from many parts of the world have immigrated, and yet Islam, fear, and terror have not been imposed. In fact, the right to choose one’s religion cannot be equated with imposition because citizens have free will. In the fake speech attributed to Putin, the old disinformation and propaganda narratives related to the West are also carried out, and Putin is presented as a teacher or authoritative figure, advising European authorities not to “homosexualize the population” and to prevent the gender transition of minors. Thus it is propagated that the European countries are extremely liberal, non-family, non-religious, far from the self-proclaimed primacy of protecting the traditional values that Russia ascribes to itself. The Kremlin’s propaganda intention to present itself as a great protector of traditional and family values through social networks, tugs at the heartstrings of Macedonian citizens who, unable to distinguish that these are fake speeches by Putin, accept those statements with enthusiasm.

 The truth is that Russia is one of the world’s least religious societies, with only 9 percent of Russians attending religious services at least somewhat regularly, according to a poll conducted in 2022 by the Moscow-based Levada Center, writes Foreign Policy in its analysis titled “Russia is no conservative haven.”