Kathrine Frich
For leaders who rule under constant threat, controlling information about their precise whereabouts can become a matter of personal survival.
Modern autocrats often shield their schedules, delay appearances or pre-record events to avoid assassination attempts and maintain an image of uninterrupted strength.
Now, fresh scrutiny has fallen on Vladimir Putin’s public activities, after investigators suggested that several of his recently released “official” meetings were not filmed when the Kremlin claimed.
Timeline under question
According to the Ukrainian investigative project Sistema, two video clips published by the Kremlin on the eve of Putin’s talks with envoys from Donald Trump appeared suspiciously out of sync with the official schedule.
The footage showed the Russian president speaking with Arkady Gostev, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, and Kursk region governor Alexander Khinshtein on December 1.
Sistema’s analysts compared the videos with earlier photographs of Putin’s office, noting that the room’s contents did not match the stated date.
A collection of poetry honouring Russia’s airborne forces, known to have been added to the office sometime before mid-August, appeared in one video but was missing in the other.
Recordings likely made months earlier
This mismatch led investigators to conclude that at least one of the meetings must have been filmed before August and only released in December.
The pattern mirrors an earlier incident in April when Putin met US businessman Steve Witkoff.
Sistema reported that, ahead of that engagement, the Kremlin also issued a supposedly recent recording that likely originated from February.
Constructing the image of tireless leadership
The project argues that the Kremlin relies on pre-recorded appearances to maintain the impression of a leader constantly at work, even at times when Putin is not seen publicly.
According to their data, the president vanished from public view at least fourteen times over the course of 2025.
Some of these gaps coincided with dates linked to his personal life, including the birthday of his partner, Alina Kabaeva.
Researchers say the Kremlin’s controlled output allows it to mask downtime while projecting an aura of perpetual activity.
Small details, big revelations
Sistema noted that seemingly insignificant elements inside the footage, rearranged books, shifts in décor, even accessories, have repeatedly exposed inconsistencies in the Kremlin’s timeline.
These clues, they say, reveal how tightly managed Putin’s image is and how carefully each public appearance must be constructed to maintain the illusion of stability.
The Kremlin has not addressed the latest findings, and the questions surrounding the videos remain unanswered.
Sources: Sistema investigative project. O2.
