Secret Team Tasked With Protecting Putin From Mockery & Memes Portraying Russian Leader As Dwarf, Crab Or 'Hitler Wannabe'

A secret team has been assigned to shield Vladimir Putin's public image online, working "tirelessly to crack down on the online dissent" against the Russian president.

RadarOnline.com has learned media watchdog Roskomnadzor had a number of documents showing that thousands of employees are tasked with blocking material that disparages Putin, including memes that portray him as a "dwarf," "crab," or a "Hitler wannabe" as he continues to be a polarizing figure amid his war against Ukraine.

Should they find anything questioning or downplaying his image, health, or ability to understand and reason, they are told to alert Putin's spooks.

Belarusian hackers breached a Roskomnadzor network and obtained a collection of internal data revealing that and more. It's a gig that requires long hours, the leak revealed, as many are expected to work "over the weekend or holidays."

Roskomnadzor's workers start their days early, signing at 8:30 AM every morning to scour the internet for any activity that could pose a threat to Putin and his image, blocking comparisons to pedophiles and serial killers, as well as depictions of him in pornographic scenes, according to independent Russian news site iStories.

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The leaks indicated that Putin faced more scrutiny in late September, during which time he recruited another 300,000 soldiers to fight. More negative searches were found when his 70th birthday rolled around on October 7.

A former speechwriter for Putin told iStories the goal of the monitoring effort is simply to "squash unrest," explaining, "If you are hated by your own people, then at some point the security forces will simply get rid of you, you will be unnecessary to them."

"Popularity is of great importance for the leader [of the country], including for Putin. Any regime can be sustainable only if it relies on the support of a significant group of voters," the speechwriter added. "You see an information threat, and you make a decision how to stop it, how to deal with it. Either with the help of technological tools, creating an alternative agenda, or with the help of an administrative scenario."