Panicked Putin goes into hiding as Kremlin caught using 'pre-recorded' footage

Vladimir Putin appears to have gone into hiding amid the ongoing US-Israeli assault on Iran - with the Kremlin allegedly using pre-recorded footage to trick Russian citizens. State media broadcast two supposedly "new" videos of the Russian leader on March 2 and 3, using footage that had actually been recorded earlier, according to the investigative outlet Sistema. The meetings with Russian officials were presented by the Kremlin press service and loyal media as taking place on the days they aired, but analysts spotted a key giveaway detail - the houseplants in Putin's Kremlin office.

Sistema published a report on how the condition of two aglaonema plants in the background of the president's office videos could be used to identify when the footage was actually filmed last month. While the Kremlin quietly replaced the plants with new ones, seemingly in response to the investigation, the meetings aired earlier this month showed old, yellowing foliage, suggesting they were filmed earlier and recycled as Putin grapples with the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The US and Israel launched a huge military operation against Iran on February 28, striking targets in Tehran and other cities and killing the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Putin has closely allied himself to Iran's hardline government, cemented by a 20-year pact signed in January 2025 that covered military, economic and security cooperation.

The Russian leader continued normal diplomatic activity during the outbreak of conflict - holding phone calls with the leaders of the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Hungary, according to Kremlin briefings.

However, his PR machine released no photographs or videos of the Russian leader during those calls.

The apparent release of staged or delayed footage to conceal gaps in the president's public schedule could allow Putin to lie low as he decides on Russia's next moves following the major strikes aimed at topping his allies.

It wouldn't be the first time the Kremlin had been accused of using such a "canned footage" ploy, with Sistema finding 18 instances of "new" meetings being shown on Russian television using pre-recorded video in 2025 alone.

The latest instance has revived questions about the Kremlin's closely-managed presentation of Putin's activities, however, alongside suspicion that he prefers to keep a low profile during moments of major international crisis.

Russia sharing intelligence to help Iran strike US military

Russia is providing Iran with intelligence to strike American military targets in the Middle East, it has been reported.

Moscow began to pass the Islamic Republic information on the positions of US forces as soon as the war began on Saturday, the Washington Post reported, citing three US officials familiar with the matter.

The information allowed “sophisticated” attacks by Iranian missiles and drones against US radar facilities, warships and aircraft. It also made it possible to target temporary structures not possible to spot with Iran’s own satellites, including the facility in Kuwait where six US soldiers were killed.

The report, which The Telegraph has not been able to independently confirm, marks the first sign of Russia’s active participation in the expanding conflict.

One official said: “It does seem like it’s a fairly comprehensive effort.”

Vladimir Putin has long objected to the US providing satellite intelligence to the Ukrainian military, and now appears to be responding in kind.

While Iran has only a small number of military-grade satellites, Moscow has many and has honed their capabilities in its war with Ukraine.

“The Russians are more than aware of the assistance that we’re giving the Ukrainians,” a US official told the Post. “I think they were very happy to try to get some payback.”

“Much [of Russia’s support to Iran] will be space based imagery,” said Mike Petersen, principal research scientist at the Centre for Naval Analyses, a federally funded organisation tied to the US military.

“This is good for knowing what bases are being used when, and what aircraft may be parked. It can allow Iran to temporarily slow or halt airfield ops,” he wrote on X.

“Russia may also provide locations on intelligence stations in the region, allowing Iran to put them under drone attack,” Mr Petersen added. Moscow’s satellites can also snoop on US communications so Iran can “understand strategic force dispositions”.

But Mr Petersen pointed out that the US had prepared to “operate in environments like this for years”, and would have “countermeasures for these eventualities”.

Before the war, China reportedly provided Iran with technology to help rebuild its ballistic missile arsenal, which the 12-day war last June had slashed.

However, Beijing has not intervened to provide concrete assistance in the current conflict, two officials told the Washington Post.

Neither Russia nor China’s foreign office responded to requests for comment.

Moscow has around 110 military satellites in orbit, while Iran has around 13 that are still operational, with three registered to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

On Thursday, Adml Brad Cooper, the head of US central command, announced that US strikes had destroyed Iran’s military space force.

“We’ve also struck Iran’s equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans,” he said.

However, experts doubt it had the ability to do so in the first place.

“They were not a threat in space capabilities,” Victoria Samson, head of the non-profit Secure World Foundation, told the Defense One website. “The threat that they have [is] for counter-space capabilities, they’re great at jamming and spoofing.”

According to the US space force, Russia’s own space capabilities have suffered in recent years. The number of satellite launches has declined amid “funding shortfalls, international isolation and broader societal problems”.

Increasingly, Moscow relies on civil and commercial satellite imagery for the war in Ukraine, the US space force reports in its fact sheet on foreign threats. That includes purchases from the Chinese company Spacety.