Fake News of Putin’s Daughter Rescuing Soldiers From Cluster Bomb Attack Spreads in Russian Media

False reports circulating on Russian social media and messaging platforms claim that Maria Vorontsova, the daughter of Vladimir Putin, engaged in heroic actions on the frontlines in Ukraine. These fabricated accounts suggest she established a mobile military hospital and sustained injuries while aiding the wounded. The claims were reported by the Russian media outlet Vot Tak on February 5.

According to the fabricated narrative, Vorontsova organized a mobile field hospital for 10,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

In December 2024, the hospital was supposedly encircled by Ukrainian troops and later attacked with cluster bombs, during which Vorontsova “heroically” rescued four injured soldiers despite suffering a concussion.

“President Vladimir Putin modestly refrained from sharing this,” the story claims. It further states that Vorontsova, a doctor by profession, was hospitalized after the incident and is now undergoing rehabilitation.

The story first surfaced on January 31 in a Telegram channel belonging to Spiridon Borbuyev, a former education official in Yakutia. The post, partially written in Yakut, quickly spread across local WhatsApp groups and social networks.

By February 3, Russian-language Telegram channels, including the Wagner Group channel, had picked up the story. The narrative gained further traction by February 4 after being shared within a community devoted to Russian TV propagandist Boris Korchevnikov.

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However, numerous inconsistencies and factual errors point to the story being a blatant fabrication.

Experts highlight that a mobile hospital could not feasibly treat 10,000 soldiers.

For example, Russia’s Saint Panteleimon medical train, managed by Russian Railways, only has 14 cars, six of which are auxiliary. Transporting 10,000 soldiers would require approximately 200 cars—an impossible logistical feat for a mobile hospital.

Earlier, American billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of X platform and newly designated special government employee, shared a fake video claiming that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Hollywood celebrities to boost the popularity of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.