A Ukrainian intelligence representative on Wednesday accused Moscow officials of orchestrating the widespread spread of false rumors that Russian President Vladimir Putin had died.
Last week, multiple Telegram channels falsely reported Putin’s death, and these messages claimed that his demise resulted in Kremlin officials scrambling to devise a succession plan. The rumors quickly spread across various social media platforms, triggering the false report to trend.
The Kremlin temporarily responded to questions about Putin’s death, calling the rumor a “hoax,” and Putin has since made public appearances.
Andriy Yusov, representative of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), told NV Radio that Moscow officials spread the rumors in an attempt to see how the Russian public would react to the news.
Yusov said that while Putin’s death would be “good news” for Ukrainians, the rumor was part of Russia’s “playbook” of disinformation.
“This is sweet music for Ukrainian listeners, and it should have been good news,” Yusov told NV Radio, according to a translation by Ukrainska Pravda. “It’s an internal story that is intended for an internal Russian audience.”
“Of course, this doesn’t help Putin, because in Russia there are a lot of conspiracy theorists,” he added.
Yussov also explained why he thought Russia would lie like this.
“The basic objective of fake news is to practice how society reacts in terms of numbers and dynamics (if they believed it, how they reacted, what they are in a position to do) and to practice the reactions of individuals, elites and the media. (even the propaganda media),” he said.
“In this way, the empire, which is built on the work of the secret services, learns how to continue to rule.”
Newsweek reached out to Russia’s Foreign Ministry via email for comment Wednesday night.
Yusov is under pressure that such disinformation has affected Putin and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“It’s also a tool of influence on Putin himself or people like him. He is obliged to react, and Peskov is obliged to react and prove that this is not the case. In other words, they’re getting you to a safe corridor. Yussov said.
The intelligence official concluded by stating, “Clearly this is the end of this story, but it’s textbook specific. “
While it’s unclear how the Russian public reacted to the rumors, it’s certain that they’re looking for data on the intent to kill their leader.
Russian investigative agency Agentstvo reported that the search terms “Putin dead,” “Putin dying” and “Putin is dead” generated more than 417,000 impressions on Russia’s most popular search engine, Yandex, last month. Agentstvo added that the majority of these searches were carried out between October 23 and 29, coinciding with the first publications about the rumors published on Telegram.
Jon Jackson is an associate editor of Newsweek, founded in New York City. It focuses on reporting on the war in Ukraine and Russia. In the past, Jon has worked for The Week, River Journal, Den of Geek, and Maxim. She graduated Summa Laude with Honors in Journalism and Mass Communication from New York University. Languages: English.