A Facebook post attempts to debunk the Western narratives about Putin as illegitimate, by mixing evidence-based claims with unsupported assertions. For example, it is true that currently there are no big protests in Russia against Putin, but there is a reason for that. The post is intentionally silent about the “elections” mentioned therein which are somewhat of a farce. The strongest Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny, was arrested, poisoned, and sentenced to approximately 30 years imprisonment, where eventually he mysteriously died, while his co-associated Boris Nemtsov was shot, along with the journalist Ana Politkovskaya. Putin also introduced draconic sanctions to silence all possible criticism. Approximately one million Russians left their country because of his policies, while under normal circumstances they would protest and vote against him 

A post on the social network Facebook, inter alia, says the following: 

The Russian President was supposed to die several times, but since it is not easy to die, he had to be “isolated”, but here come the statesmen from all over [the world] to see him, to support him and request his support. 

While it is true that there were speculations about the health of Vladimir Putin, it is plain false that statesmen “from all over” the world are visiting him. They are usually from countries that are isolated themselves or poor countries that need grain, gas, or oil, and not necessarily do they share common ground. During the past year, he was visited by the leaders of North Korea, South Sudan, the Republic of Congo, Laos, and Cuba, and rare exceptions are the leaders from India or Hungary, although nothing special happened then. The post also says the following about Putin: 

The Russian people should have “rebelled” against Putin, but he won 80 percent of the votes of the elections. 

It is true that currently there are no big protests in Russia against Putin, but there is a reason for that. The post is intentionally silent about the “elections” mentioned therein which were somewhat of a farce. 

The strongest Russian opposition, Alexei Navalny (Алексей Навальный) was arrested, poisoned, and sentenced to approximately 30 years imprisonment, where eventually he mysteriously died, while his co-associated Boris Nemtsov (Бори́с  Немцо́в) was shot, along with the journalist Ana Politkovskaya (Анны Политковской). The list of killed critics of Putin does not end here, and subsequently, he has been in power for almost a quarter of a century.  

In addition, Putin amended the Constitution and the laws to remove the restrictions preventing him from further being a presidential candidate and introduced draconic sanctions to silence all possible criticism. Approximately one million Russians left their country because of his policies, while under normal circumstances they would protest and vote against him. 

He did not have actual opposition to the elections because Boris Nadezhdin (Бориса Надеждин) was not allowed to participate. There was no adequate foreign monitoring either, and allegedly illegal ballot stuffing and even pens with disappearing ink were reported. 

According to Noble Prize winner Dmitry Muratov’s newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, the election fraud was too big even for Russian standards, and elections took place even in occupied territories in Ukraine which is completely illegitimate. Dispite all that, the post is not disputing Putin’s legitimacy, but the legitimacy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy: 

Ukraine was supposed to be a “democracy”, but today the country is ruled by an actor and a corrupt dictator who prohibits all sorts of opposition, suppresses the Church and discriminates those speaking the language he grew up speaking.

Zelenskyy is not a dictator and he was legitimately elected in 2019. The allegations probably allude to the thesis that “his term has expired”, but in martial law conditions his term is extended, and elections are not held. There are oppositional parties in Ukraine: European Solidarity, Batkivshchina, Golos, etc., but banned are just those recognized as the “fifth column”.  

Zelenskyy has no issue with all churches, but specifically with the Moscow Patriarchate, whose name indicates its origin as an occupying church, and until 1686 the Ukrainians had church life that was independent from that church. Some of the clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate are now supporting the Russian aggression in Ukraine, so the response is quite normal. 

We have already covered the issue of the Russian language in Ukraine, so we do not want to repeat it. Its free use is guaranteed by Article 10 of the Constitution, so the Russian language is not prohibited or anything of the sort. On the contrary, the Ukrainian language was prohibited during the Russian Empire and suppressed under the USSR in favor of the Russian language, thereby assimilating the Ukrainians and resulting in too big a presence that they decided to restrict it. 

The post even resembles a conspiracy theory by claiming the following: 

The several billion dollar worth disinformation machinery called Western mainstream media is controlled and sponsored by Western intelligence services.

It is true that in the past the CIA recruited some journalists, but that practice died in the 1970s. But who discovered it? Well, other journalists, which led to the establishment of the Senate Frank Church Committee, which investigated the power abuses of the government. 

In the West, journalism is the seventh power or watchdog that responds to such abuses. It was journalists who brought down the American president Richard Nixon. They would not be silent if the CIA was paying the media to spread lies. The media there can make a decent living on the open market without the need for such behavior. 

Not to mention the fact that in 2022 the media and entertainment industry in the USA was estimated at 2437985 million Dollars (or 2.44 trillion Dollars), while the overall budget of the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, for example, this year was only 72.4 billion Dollars, i.e., almost 34 times less, meaning that this industry can easily buy the CIA, not vice versa. 

In terms of money, the post claims the following: 

Russian economy was supposed to disintegrate, but this year it will surpass all other developed economies regardless of the Western sanctions aiming to impoverish the country for decades.

Although the World Bank has re-classified Russia now from an upper-middle-income country to a high-income country, it is still at the bottom of the developed world list, unlikely to overcome that place. The Gross National Income per capita in Russia is 14,250 US Dollars, while the USA’s is 80,300 Dollars. Bulgaria has also become one of the high-income countries although its economy is modest, and it is placed even before Russia on the list. 

Indeed, the effect of the sanctions is not that strong, but as we have already reported, the effect is nevertheless there. The sanctions have not been there “for decades”, but they started with the invasion of Crimea in 2014, while the more severe ones – were introduced after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

Regarding the invasion of Ukraine, the post specifies the following: 

The Russian Army was supposed to “disintegrate”, wasn’t it? But it grew, advanced and it is winning.

The Army is advancing, but in villages whose place on the map is not known such as Urozhayne, Rozivka, or Pishchane. For two and a half years Russia did not seize any regional center in Ukraine, apart from Kherson, which was lost soon after that. Russia does not control fully even the areas it has annexed. Russia has still not conquered the town of Chasiv Yar, which was supposed to be the trophy for Victory Day – 9 May. The Ukrainians have been striking the Russian Belgorod for quite some time and even Moscow. All this is quite embarrassing for a superpower. 

Finally, look at the following quote: 

NATO and its EUUS accomplices openly admit that are fighting against the Russians

No evidence proves the presence of NATO in Ukraine, only fake news such as that claiming that “in Mariupol, an American general was captured” or that “in Slavyansk French troops had arrived”. It is true that the Polish Foreign Affairs Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski mentioned that some NATO member states, allegedly, sent troops to Ukraine, but without being precise, and immediately after that he told a joke leaving the impression that he was just being funny or provocative. 

There is no official statement recognizing that NATO is in Ukraine. Russia has not declared war on the Pact and its ambassadors continue to work in the Western capitals (just smaller in size). Therefore, Russia is not at war with NATO. 

Considering all of the above-noted, the post is assessed as partially untrue.