Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new video, in which the purportedly inebriated president is seen discussing the Russia-Ukraine war, has gone viral on Twitter. Dmitri, a Twitter user, shared the video with the description “Drunk Putin explains why strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure will continue.”
Putin is seen addressing state award recipients, “All the foolishness, the informative stand-off, the informational throw-ins, all the fakes, they must stand aside.” They should not impede us from carrying out our responsibilities to our people. And you don’t need to be extremely knowledgeable in this informational confrontation to comprehend what’s going on.”
“There is a lot of noise now about our strikes against the energy infrastructure of our neighbor country. Yes, we are doing that but who started it? Who struck the Crimean Bridge? Who blew up the power lines of the Kursk Nuclear Power Station? Who is not providing water to Donetsk? Not providing water to a city with a population of one million is an act of genocide. No one said a word about it anywhere at all. Complete silence. Just as we make a move, or do something in response, noise and crackle start for the whole universe. This will not prevent us from completing military objectives,” Putin adds while swaying from side to side.
The video, which had over 2.5 million views on the microblogging site, sparked conjecture about whether the president was inebriated when he spoke.
This is the first time Putin is seen drunk
According to Swedish economist Anders Slund, who worked as a consultant to the governments of Russia and Ukraine in the 1990s, Putin’s behavior is quite unique, as he is known for controlled abstinence.
“This is the first time that I have seen Putin seeming drunk in any context. He talks nonsense as usual, but he seems to realize that he is a loser. Very interesting & promising. All Russians will see that he is drunk & weak,” Åslund tweeted.
Meanwhile, according to Moscow-based writer Anna Nemtsova, this is Putin’s first apparent intoxication during his presidency.
“We’ve seen many staged photo&video shoots in 20 Years including half-naked Putin on a horse or diving for some Greek jugs, Putin flying w migratory birds or kissing a boy on the stomach but drunk speeches about Russian missiles striking neighboring state must be Putin’s own act,” the journalist tweeted.
“Very strange to see him drunk in public”
CBC journalist Evan Dyer, meanwhile, tweeted it is “very strange to see Putin drunk in public.” “Being sober in a hard-drinking country is central to his public image. It was the main contrast he drew between himself and Yeltsin….But no doubt, he’s plastered here,” Dyer tweeted.
In response to the viral video, New Lines Magazine Global Editor Amie Ferris-Rotman tweeted, “Woah. Never seen Putin drunk before, or ever heard of him getting drunk (he used to boast he was teetotal). Things must be going very wrong in Ukraine.”
Putin has been known to adhere to a strict diet and abstain from vices such as alcohol and narcotics over the years. According to Russia’s state media agency Tass, the president does not approve of smoking cigarettes “because he advocates a healthy lifestyle,” and he has previously criticized Russia’s drinking culture, claiming to have received German beer bottles from Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel.