IN SHORT: A video doing the rounds on social media shows Russian president Vladimir Putin apparently declaring his support for the protests in Kenya. But the video is manipulated - it uses genuine footage of Putin, but with false English subtitles.
A video posted on the short-form video platform TikTok shows Russian president Vladimir Putin apparently expressing his support for protesters in Kenya.
The video is overlaid with the text: "Kwisha! Support from Russia, #Rejectfinancebill." "Kwisha" is the Kiswahili word for "finished".
Text at the bottom of the video reads: "Tuitishe nini , alafu spokesman atakuwa nani?" The Kiswahili phrase roughly translates to: "What do we ask for, and who will be the spokesperson?"
The video features a male voice speaking in Russian, apparently that of Putin, accompanied by an English voiceover and subtitles. The English voiceover and subtitles say:
Currently, the economy in many countries is not good. But I would like to talk about one country in Africa - to be specific, East Africa - called Kenya. There have been demonstrations about rejecting this year's finance bill and guess who are leading the demonstrations? Gen-Zs. I'm very proud of the youth in that country because they have unity and one voice. And as Russia, we only congratulate the brave. I know it does not concern me, but I support them and will offer to help them on anything they need while demonstrating. Get a spokesman and contact me via the Russian embassy. Whatever you need, I'll deal with the harassment from the authorities.
The video, also posted here, has garnered over 75,000 views, 2,600 likes and 500 shares. Another video makes the same claim about Putin supporting the protesters, but uses different footage.
Gen Z protests rocking Kenya
Since 18 June 2024, Kenya has been rocked by a series of protests. They have been largely led by young people, widely referred to by local and international media as Generation Z or Gen Z.
The protesters have demanded that the Finance Bill 2024, which contained controversial tax hike proposals, be scrapped. The protests turned violent and deadly, and have continued even after president William Ruto announced the withdrawal of the bill on 26 June.
The hashtag #RejectFinanceBill has been widely used on social media to support the movement.
The demonstrations have shifted to demanding Ruto's resignation and reforms to address poor governance.
On 22 June, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura accused foreign powers of instigating the protests. He suggested that Ruto's calls for Russia to stop its aggression against Ukraine and his appeals for changes to the world's financial architecture might have provoked foreign interests to destabilise the country.
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It was in this context that the video in question began to circulate. The video's subtitles claim that Putin encouraged the young protesters to appoint a spokesperson to present their demands to him. This explains the Kiswahili text in the video asking what should be asked for and who the spokesperson would be.
But is the video authentic? We checked.
False subtitles
A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led us to the original footage of Putin's speech, made during Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2023.
A translation of Putin's speech shows that he was discussing patriotism, addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and criticising Western leaders. He made no mention of Kenya.
In addition, we found no news reports about Putin's alleged support for the Kenyan protesters from any credible media house.
The Russian embassy in Kenya posted a disclaimer on its X account (formerly Twitter), labelling the voiceover and subtitles in the video "fake". This was also reported in the Kenyan media.
Claims that Putin publicly expressed his support for the Gen Z-led Kenyan protests are false. The subtitles in the video are fabricated to spread disinformation.
