Russian war president Vladimir Putin (70) broke with years of tradition and gave his New Year’s speech from a military headquarters. Otherwise, at the end of the year, Putin always appears in the Kremlin courtyard. During this year’s speech, Putin has soldiers posing in the background, staring gravely and heroically at the camera.
According to the Kremlin’s propaganda, they are all deserving soldiers. Putin was still awarding medals. On extras, it seems. Because the whole show has a catch. Several soldiers turn out to be actors, apparatchiks and functionaries. The same faces have been seen at various Putin events.
Internet sleuths have meticulously analyzed photos. A middle-aged woman with blond hair stands out in particular. She stands right behind Putin and, like everyone posing, wears a uniform. Instead, she arguably has more stage than combat experience. The mysterious blonde has appeared in several of Putin’s propaganda videos. As early as November, Putin had shown himself with the mothers of fake soldiers.
Propaganda like in Soviet times
The woman with the light hair likes to stand next to purely male colleagues, either as a sailor or as a churchgoer. She has been spotted on a ship carrying Putin along with three men who also regularly appear in Russian propaganda. They would have been present both on the boat and at the service, where the blonde was right behind Putin.
The woman is apparently Serguhina Larissa Borisovna (57), a deputy sheriff from Novgorod near Saint Petersburg. Borisovna is a member of the Regional Duma of the Legislative Oversight Committee.
Putin loyalists to the regime and paid actors probably look better on camera than exhausted, hungry, ill-equipped soldiers, of whom Putin doesn’t seem to have enough at the front – which the Kremlin general still doesn’t has dared to go after more than ten years of months of war.