(MOSCOW) – Russian authorities staged elaborate deceptions during Vladimir Putin’s August 2026 tour of Siberian and Far Eastern cities, artificially lowering fuel prices, resurfacing roads and organising fake public gatherings to present an image of a functioning nation, according to social media footage and Russian bloggers.
The Russian dictator visited Krasnoyarsk on 4th August, Novosibirsk on 10th and 11th August, and the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands on 12th August. Each visit was preceded by frantic preparations that residents documented and shared online.
In Krasnoyarsk, fuel prices dropped dramatically on the day of Putin’s arrival. Motorists filmed petrol at 67 roubles (£0.66 / $0.82) per litre for 95 octane, a price not seen for more than a year. Queues that had plagued petrol stations for months vanished overnight. Within days of Putin’s departure, prices rose again and queues returned.
One resident expressed astonishment at the sudden change. “What happened? Ninety five for 68 roubles. What kind of wonderful miracle happened in our city?” she said. “The asphalt was blackened. The gasoline was drained. Who came to visit us? Who? It was the tsar. The tsar came and every problem disappeared.”
A prominent Russian Telegram channel with half a million subscribers later confirmed the deception. “We thought it was a hoax, but it turned out to be true. On the eve of Putin’s visit to Krasnoyarsk, they actually changed the price tags at gas stations. Only the tags, not the actual price. It is a fake. You could not buy gas at these prices,” the channel wrote.
The bloggers drew historical parallels. “This is not Potemkin villages. Potemkin was a statesman in Crimea. When the Tsarina Catherine visited Crimea, Potemkin built fake villages to impress the Tsarina. We need to look deeper. This is not Potemkin villages or even Bolshevism, because in Soviet times the same thing was happening. They were painting the grass greener. Essentially, it is misinformation and an attempt to manipulate the country’s top leadership.”
In Novosibirsk, residents filmed workers pouring asphalt, painting grass, cutting trees and laying stones three days before Putin’s arrival. One man said he had never seen the city centre so clean and well maintained in his life.
Days after Putin left, the newly laid asphalt collapsed. CCTV footage showed holes appearing in the road surface where the ground beneath had not been prepared. “They just put asphalt over a hole. As soon as Putin is gone, it all falls apart,” the video commentary noted.
A gathering of children next to Putin’s motorcade was presented as spontaneous. However, official instructions had been issued to residents of Novosibirsk warning them to stay away from windows, avoid the streets and the motorcade, not use binoculars or electronic devices, and not film the procession.
During a meeting with children in Krasnoyarsk, Putin was asked what victory meant to him. “Victory is when you overcome yourself. This is the biggest victory,” he replied.
On 12th August, Putin visited the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island to mark the 26th anniversary of the sinking of the nuclear submarine Kursk. The disaster in 2000 killed all 118 crew members. Putin was at his summer residence in Sochi when the accident occurred and initially refused foreign assistance.
Putin delivered his address aboard the missile cruiser Varyag, which was named Red Ukraine from 1979 to 1995. The vessel is a sister ship of the Moskva, the former flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet that was sunk by Ukrainian forces on 14th April 2022.
During the visit, Putin wore a naval uniform. He never served in the military. His KGB service in the 1980s was in a clerical capacity, according to biographers.
Footage from the ship showed Putin wearing an oversized naval cap. One officer seated beside him attempted to open a notebook, failed, and did not try again for the remainder of the meeting, an interaction widely mocked on social media.
Russian bloggers noted the contrast between Putin’s willingness to board a ship in Sakhalin, thousands of kilometres from Ukraine, and his behaviour at Navy Day celebrations in St Petersburg, where he remained inside a protected vessel because Ukrainian drones can reach the city.
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