A video showing Russian President Vladimir Putin going on trial, which is in fact a cleverly-edited montage, became an Internet hit in Russia on Wednesday, ahead of presidential polls, with two million views.
But the footage is a neat collage of shots from the trial of Putin’s arch foe, toppled oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, with the premier’s face superimposed on Khodorkovsky’s much taller frame.
The video – which has garnered almost two million views on YouTube – has gone viral some two weeks ahead of the March 4 presidential elections in which Putin is seeking a historic third Kremlin term in the face of protests.
“The former prime minister was brought to the Khamovnichesky court about half-an-hour ago” says the voice-over, which is based on state television coverage of the second Khodorkovsky trial.
Khodorkovsky was jailed for tax evasion and then convicted of fraud in a second trial in a Moscow court in late 2010. He is set to stay in jail until 2016.