Kathrine Frich
Social media has become a key battleground in that strategy.
Russia has increasingly turned to symbolic and unconventional messaging to project power and signal intent.
A newly released AI-generated video shared by a Russian diplomatic account blends holiday imagery with pointed political threats, drawing international attention just days before high-level talks on the conflict.
A festive threat
The video, generated using artificial intelligence and released by a Russian diplomatic office, depicts President Vladimir Putin dressed as Santa Claus handing out gifts to world leaders.
It was produced by the Russian state-backed Sputnik news agency and posted on X, where it gathered around 240,000 views.
According to its description, “Christmas is the season of giving, when Russia makes sure all its friends receive something nice and are well and happy.”
It adds: “As for the disobedient, they too will get what they deserve.”
The clip appeared only hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to meet former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort to discuss a U.S.-brokered peace plan.
Gifts with meaning
Set to an instrumental version of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” the video opens with Putin carrying a sack of presents.
Trump is shown smiling as he unwraps a framed photograph of himself with Putin from their Alaska summit earlier this year, a meeting that drew widespread criticism.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is portrayed receiving ornaments shaped like the yuan, yen and ruble, while a dollar-shaped decoration falls from the tree and shatters.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is handed a figurine of a Russian stealth fighter jet, a nod to Moscow’s offer to build such aircraft for India.
Other leaders appear with similarly symbolic gifts. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is shown with a DJ set repeating “No war, only peace, forever, forever, forever,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a snow globe representing the Russian-financed Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
Allies and outsiders
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is depicted smiling at a gift reading “From Russia, with gratitude,” alongside a wrapped sword. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is shown holding a Gazprom gift card, referencing Russia’s state-owned energy company.
Ukrainian President Zelensky receives the harshest portrayal.
He opens a box containing handcuffs and is later shown frowning behind bars, marking him as the only leader punished rather than rewarded.
The imagery contrasts sharply with the otherwise lighthearted holiday setting.
Sources: Digi24, Sputnik, Russian Defense Ministry, X
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