Blog post fabricates Russian president’s remarks in recent speech

World Economic Forum Chair Klaus Schwab’s detractors may have cheered upon reading remarks recently attributed to Russian President Vladmir Putin. 

"Putin warns ‘global terrorist’ #KlausSchwab his ‘days are numbered’ as people all over the world wake up to the strange cult leader who has groomed young people using guile and corruption and inveigled them into power," reads a screenshot of an X post. "World Economic Forum is losing."

An Instagram post sharing the screenshot was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The Oct. 6 X post is authentic and links to an Oct. 5 blog post headlined: "Putin warns ‘global terrorist’ Klaus Schwab his ‘days are numbered."

The blog post said,"World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab is a ‘globalist terrorist’ who is holding humanity ransom,’ according to Russian President Vladimir Putin who warned the elite that their New World Order has failed and their ‘days are numbered.’" 

The post attributed Putin’s remarks to a speech he delivered Oct. 5 at the plenary session of the 20th meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia. 

Putin "emphasized the tectonic and irreversible shifts taking place in the global order," the post said. "According to Putin, globalists including Schwab and his close advisors are ‘legitimate military targets’ because they have been actively attempting to seize power illegally via a globalist coup d’etat."

Featured Fact-check

Viral image

stated on February 24, 2022 in a Facebook post

Video shows footage from Russia invading Ukraine.

Putin did deliver a keynote speech at an Oct. 5 Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, discussing the war in Ukraine, nuclear weapons and Russia’s relationship with China. 

But he didn’t mention Schwab or threaten him, according to an English translation of Putin’s remarks, which the club published.

We found no credible evidence that Putin made these comments elsewhere. 

We rate this post False.