This thesis was spread by the Russian media quoting propagandist, representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mariia Zakharova. At one of her briefings, she said that Ukrainians supposedly secretly admire Putin and want him to become the president of Ukraine. The fact-checkers of the StopFake project analyzed the case and determined that such a thesis is unfounded.

Zakharova threw in information without evidence or specific facts. In fact, there is no evidence that Ukrainians could be “infatuated with Putin” or would like such a president for themselves. For example, the Foundation “Democratic Initiatives” named after Ilko Kucheriv  together with the sociological service of the Razumkov Center conducted a survey on the attitude of Ukrainians towards the Russian president. Thus, 82.2% of respondents agreed with the statement that “Putin is Hitler today”. That is, most Ukrainians do not see Putin as a leader.

Thus, propagandists want to show that Ukrainians, as they say, do not really support their power. Solidarity with the Russians and their politicians and at the same time support Russia in its aggression.