Russian President Vladimir Putin is portrayed as Santa in an anti Western propaganda video

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been portrayed as Santa in an antiWestern propaganda video released on the country s social media. The film made by a production company called Signal depicts Santa Putin swapping a photograph of a child s samesex parents for one of a mother and father, and gifting the boy being raised as a girl a football, toy cars and a drum kit. The video feeds into Russian prejudices about Europe and the United States which have been fuelled by proKremlin propagandists during the war in Ukraine to frame the conflict as a clash of values between Russia and Ukraine s western allies. The clip has been surging on social media in Russia since it was posted, providing a propaganda boon for the Russian leader as it was embarrassingly revealed China s Xi Jinping demanded a written explanation from Putin on when he plans to end his war in Ukraine, and as his war stretched past its 300th day.