Spoof video of Putin on trial is YouTube hit in Russia

A SPOOF video that purports to show Vladimir Putin in the caged defendant's enclosure of a packed courtroom has become a hit with Russian YouTubers, just over two weeks before the 4 March presidential elections.
 
The video, produced in the style of a Russian state TV news item, is the result of re-editing footage from the trial of Putin's jailed rival, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and superimposing Putin's head onto Khodorkovsky's body.
 
A voiceover accompanying the piece claims that Putin stands accused of fraud, theft, overstepping his powers and "organising an act of terrorism" designed to scare the population.
 
This reference to terrorism against Russians is the clue to the video's purpose. It is, apparently, a piece of viral advertising for a 2002 documentary called The Assassination of Russia which was re-released on the internet this month.
 
The documentary, based on Alexander Litvinenko's book Blowing Up Russia: Terror from Within, claims that the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings were a false flag operation, orchestrated by Putin and Russia's Federal Security Service, designed to bring Putin to power.   
 
The use of doctored images to advertise anti-Putin material is ironic. Only last month supporters of Putin were caught using a faked photo in an attempt to smear one of his most outspoken critics. It was considered a huge own goal.

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