'Clear overkill': Putin rejects claims Russia is behind mass protests in Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday rejected accusations that Moscow is behind mass protests in major European cities, calling the claims a "clear overkill." Putin said that was "strange and completely unexpected" to him, as he did not expect European leaders to attack "their main ally and protector" across the Atlantic.

“Claims immediately began to be thrown out that the events taking place in Europe are the result of the activities of the current American administration and its support for right-wing parties and movements,” Putin said in an interview with VGTRK broadcasting company published on Sunday.

“My first reaction when I saw this was surprise, because to say that we are provoking mass protests in major European cities is a clear overkill,” he said.
Putin said the allegations reflected a failure by some European leaders to take responsibility for what is happening at home. "This is bad. Why? Because it means they do not analyse the events, do not look for the causes of what is happening, but simply shift the blame onto someone, first the US, now Russia," Putin said.

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, during a speech at an OECD-hosted conference on October 13, said that "enemies of democracy" from Russia, China, Iran, and the American MAGA community were exploiting domestic grievances around immigration, public spending, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to incite hatred and destabilise European sovereignty. Similarly, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, speaking at the Defence Procurement Forum in Rome, argued that the street violence was entirely different from historical protests and was the product of a "hybrid war" driven by foreign forces using social media algorithms.

The remarks come as nationwide student protests have run for several weeks in France. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had already dismissed the accusations on October 19, saying nobody takes such "absurd accusations" seriously. US President Donald Trump has blamed the unrest on mass migration.