Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 8/10/2025; Author: Armin Tufo
A viral “message” from Russian President Vladimir Putin “to the German government and people” has been circulating since March 2025. In the “message”, Germany is portrayed as a country in crisis and decline, supposedly not worth attacking or occupying. The statement is fabricated and cannot be found anywhere except on social media.
On September 11, 2025, the Facebook group SRBIN–Republika Srpska (СРБИН–Република Српска) published a post claiming to contain a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the German government and people, outlining why Russia has no interest in attacking or occupying Germany. The “message” is written in a condescending tone, depicting Germany as a country faced with numerous problems and is “not worth” conquering.
Among other things, Germany is described as a country with debt that cannot be repaid but continues to borrow in order to arm itself “against Russia.” It also claims that Germany bears enormous costs due to “millions of migrants” it has accepted. The country’s infrastructure is described as crumbling beyond repair, and its railways, “once the admiration of the world”, are said to now resemble those “in India”. The overall point of the “message” is that Russia has no interest in attacking Germany and taking on all the problems it currently avoids.
At the time of writing, the post had received over 21,000 likes and nearly 3,000 shares on Facebook.
The alleged “Putin’s message to Germany” has been circulating on social media since at least May 24, 2025, when it was first published on X. It has since been shared on Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), Instagram (1, 2), and various online forums. The post appeared twice on VKontakte (1, 2).
The portal Glas javnosti published the so-called “message from the Russian president” in article form on September 6, 2025.
Official Channels
Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned Germany in his recent public appearances several times, mostly in the context of the war in Ukraine and Germany’s position regarding the Russian invasion (1, 2). In June 2025, during a press conference, he described Germany’s energy policy as irrational, claiming that companies such as Volkswagen and Porsche were “suffering” as a result. This is a reference to Germany’s decision to halt imports of Russian energy resources. He also dismissed Germany as a potential mediator in Ukraine because of its support for Kyiv, calling it an accomplice in hostilities. He commented as well on the potential delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine, warning that such a move would destroy relations between Russia and Germany.
However, there is no trace of the “message to the German government and people” in any of the official channels through which the Russian president communicates with the public. Putin’s official channel of communication is the Kremlin’s website, where his speeches and press releases are published. A search of the site shows no results confirming that he ever issued this “message.” Searches of Russian state media that regularly report on Putin’s activities, such as Ria Novosti and TASS, also showed no results. The same applies to a Google search on the internet.
In other words, this “message” exists only on social media and has no official source.
Another Fabricated Message
Raskrinkavanje has previously analyzed posts containing fabricated statements attributed to Vladimir Putin. In May 2025, a false claim circulated that he confirmed the existence of the lost “Tartarian Empire”, a mythical civilization that conspiracy theorists believe was an advanced society whose existence is being covered up. In January 2024, a fabricated story claimed that Putin had declared the sale of Alaska to the United States illegal. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began, in March 2024, we analyzed a fake quote attributed to him about “fighting the Nazis”. In March 2020, we debunked the false claim that he had ordered lions to be released into city streets as an anti-pandemic measure to keep citizens indoors.
The “message to the German people” is not the only invented message attributed to him. In March 2025, we analyzed a similar fabricated “message to Europeans”, also falsely attributed to Putin. In the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, another fake “message to the citizens of planet Earth” circulated, allegedly calling for global unity in the fight against the “Ukrainian Nazism”.Based on the facts, we rate the first post containing the fabricated “message to the German government and people”, attributed to Vladimir Putin and published on social media and the portal Glas javnosti, as fake news. Other posts sharing this claim are rated as spreading fake news.
