Is it true that congratulatory posters were put up in Genoa for Putin’s birthday?

In October 2024, Russian media and Telegram channels reported that residents of a large Italian city congratulated the Russian President on his 72nd birthday. We have verified the accuracy of these publications.

Reports that posters with a portrait of Vladimir Putin and the caption “Happy Birthday, President” in Russian and Italian were put up in Genoa began to spread on October 6, 2024, on the eve of the Russian president’s birthday. Posts with photographs and videos allegedly taken in a large Italian city were published by Telegram channels such as Readovka (817,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), “Putin on Telegram"(185,000), "Voblya • Kursk" (152,000) and "First People's | News"(113,000). TV presenters wrote about the event in their channels Vladimir Solovyov (226,000 views) and Ruslan Ostashko (116,000). The news also appeared in "RIA Novosti", "Gazeta.ru", RBC, "Vestyakh.ru"and other Russian media.

Information about the action in Genoa began to spread after messages TASS, published on the morning of October 6 with reference to one of the authors of the initiative, Vincenzo Lorusso. In the note he is presented as a journalist and founder of the Telegram channel “Donbass Italy”. Another organizer of the action is the socio-political association Contronarrazione.

Lorusso, who calls himself an independent Italian journalist, actually runs a Telegram channel Donbass Italy (47,000 subscribers) and the same name channel on Rutube, and also often gives interview pro-Russian media. In addition, he had a YouTube channel, which blocked in 2023. In the summer of 2024 Telegram channel “Shmel Editorial” published documentary "In Spite" about Lorusso. According to this tape, he is from Rome and is married to a native of the Lugansk region. Lorusso claims that, although by the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine he was already running the Donbass Italia channel, at that time he had never been to Donbass and went there only after his mother-in-law’s house came under fire. “Verified” was unable to find any materials in the Italian press signed by Lorusso published before February 24, 2022.

Association Сontronarrazione In its Telegram channel (2900 subscribers), it calls itself a group of activists from Genoa who “spread information for the benefit of people, contrary to the lies of the dominant narrative.” Judging by the content of its posts, the association supports not only Russia in the war with Ukraine, but also, for example, the Lebanese Islamist group “Hezbollah", which is recognized as terrorist in many countries of the world.

On October 6 at 14:08 Moscow time (that is, several hours after the TASS note), Contronarrazione appeared on the Telegram channel fast about the event: “Hundreds of posters appeared in Genoa congratulating President Vladimir Putin on his 72nd birthday. This initiative is intended to reaffirm the bonds of solidarity that bind Italy to Russia, despite the Atlanticist position of the colonial administration led by [Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni. Those who truly want an independent Italy, a democratic and egalitarian international order and deep social transformation find in Russia a valuable friend and ally!” There are messages about the campaign in the Donbass Italia channel were published even later, mainly Lorusso translated Russian media materials on this topic.

The organizers claimed that they posted hundreds of congratulations on Putin’s birthday on the streets of Genoa. In two photographs and three videos published by Contronarrazione, as well as in a video posted in Donbass Italia, “Verified” counted 47 posters, and several were posted at once in each location. After analyzing a screenshot of one of the videos using a reverse Google image search, we were convinced that this video was indeed filmed in Genoa near from the Gerolamo Serra Bridge. Ten posters are pasted on the side wall of a building on the Bisagno River promenade, next to the parking machine.

“Verified” was able to identify the filming locations of two more videos and one photo. Four posters from a video published by Donbass Italia, were pasted on the wall of the same building, only further from the embankment. Ten other posters were also included in the video, apparently posted there a little earlier. 

Another video was filmed nearby - seven posters were placed on Via Canevari at the entrance to the building where the educational institutions Liceo Economico Sociale and ISSS Firpo-Buonarroti are located. The front façade of this building also faces the Bisagno embankment. Verified sent requests for comment to the schools but did not receive a response.

Finally, at least one of the photographs posted in the Contronarrazione channel was taken on the opposite bank of the river. Activists pasted eight posters on a transformer box near the Attilio Firpo bridge.

If we assume that the same group of activists put up posters in these three locations, then they would have spent no more than 10 minutes moving between these points.

Putting up posters and posters in Genoa regulated municipal legislation, they can only be placed on specially designated surfaces. This could be, for example, free-standing stands or notice boards, but not building walls, transformer boxes or gates. Unauthorized posting of posters in unauthorized places is considered a violation and is punishable by a fine. 

The municipality of Genoa, in response to Verified's request for comment, reported that on October 10, government officials investigated the locations where posters with Putin allegedly appeared. “According to the results of the check carried out by the staff of the task force against tax evasion in the area you specified, not a single illegally placed poster related to this campaign was found,” the Italian city authorities noted. 

For residents of Genoa, apparently, the action went unnoticed - “Verified” did not find any reports about it on major city news resources, such as Genova Today, Genova24 And La voce di Genova. About putting up posters congratulating Putin reported publication of Liguria Notizie (Genoa is the largest city in the province of Liguria), but his note is entirely based on materials provided by Lorusso and Contronarrazione. The newspaper did not provide any other photos and videos, as well as its own evidence or comments from eyewitnesses.

Thus, no later than October 6, in Genoa, apparently, several dozen posters of the same type were actually posted with congratulations to Putin on his birthday. This action was carried out by pro-Russian activists, and they chose one small area of ​​the city for this. The posting of the posters was not authorized by the municipal authorities, and the posters themselves, the interest in which was much lower among local residents than among the pro-Kremlin media and bloggers, did not last even a few days in their places.

Cover photo: social networks

Mostly true

What do our verdicts mean?

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