THIS is the humiliating moment Vladimir Putin’s motorcade is driven past a giant Ukraine flag on his visit to Kazakhstan.
Russia’s tyrant was left embarrassed by suspected brave hackers when his presidential welcome went seriously wrong – as officials launch a criminal probe into the major blunder.
The sign was supposed to show a Russian flag like several others in the city[/caption]
Footage shows rows of cars being forced to wait next to a massive electronic screen with the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine proudly displayed on it.
The screen at Astana Opera Theatre was supposed to show the Russian flag as Vlad and his cronies motored by but it suddenly flipped to show their fearless enemy.
A criminal case was almost instantly launched over the huge error with initial investigations believing the electronic board was hacked.
The screen was reportedly permanently turned off following the incident last night.
The red-faced Kazakhstan Ministry of Internal Affairs released a statement vowing to hold those responsible to account.
They said: “All possible causes are being considered, including technical malfunctions as well as potential external unlawful interference in the functioning processes of the company’s equipment.
“A criminal case has been initiated, and all circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated.
“Those responsible for the unlawful actions will be held accountable.”
Vlad is not believed to have seen the Ukrainian flag with it being taken down immediately.
Deputy director of the billboard operators, Keruen Media, claimed the LED lights were never hacked but just suffered from a short circuit error.
The company told Kazakh news site KazTAG that a cable issue on the upper section of the Russian flag meant the white section instantly shut off.
The rest of the billboard then brightened causing the red to appear as yellow when filmed from the cars, they claimed.
The motorcade mishap came a few hours after Putin was again seemingly caught out in Kazakhstan.
Bizarre images appeared to show Vlad suffering from a senior moment as he arrived in the capital of Astana.
The ageing 72-year-old had a bewildered look on his face as he stepped out of the Flying Kremlin Il-96-300PU presidential plane.
He was greeted by Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev but was quickly looking around for his security as he tried to separate from the group of locals.
Tokayev rapidly caught up with Putin to end the momentary embarrassment.
Putin is on a two-day visit to Kazakhstan as he looks to strengthen his relationship with one of Russia‘s biggest trading partners.
Putin was also seen looking confused and wanting his security when he first stepped foot in Kazakhstan[/caption]
Civilians are mainly seen as neutral in regards to the war but thousands are seriously anti-Putin’s regime.
He is expected to be at the Collective Security Treaty Organization later today where the war will be a main talking point.
In recent days, Vlad’s forces have continued to gain ground inside Ukraine.
Russia claims to have grabbed even more eastern territory in recent weeks – leaving Moscow in a strong position.
Today Ukraine was placed under red alert with civilians taking cover in bomb shelters and one million people plunged into darkness.
Russia mounted a second “massive” attack on the country’s energy infrastructure overnight with cruise missiles and kamikaze drones.
Putin is even said to have ordered the deadly 16,000mph Satan 2 to be battle-ready sparking fears of a major escalation in the war.
It comes a week after he unleashed a terrifying new weapon onto Ukrainian civilians known as the “Oreshnik”.
The hypersonic ballistic missile attacked Dnipro – leaving behind a decimated city.
There are fears that Russia may have up to 10 of these new terrifying ballistic missiles in its arsenal.
As Putin sent out a chilling warning last week saying he will continue to unleash the devastating weapons as he looks to mass produce them.
Putin’s chilling threat to the West
BY Elizabeta Ranxburgaj and Will Stewart
VLADIMIR Putin has issued a chilling threat to the West against American and British rockets being used by Ukraine to attack Russia.
The tyrant’s “response” comes after the Kremlin ramped up the aggression in its invasion of Ukraine as it expelled a UK diplomat.
Moscow’s military vowed a chilling “response” to fresh Ukrainian air attacks deep inside Russia using US-supplied ATACMS missiles.
Russia’s defence ministry posted a short but chilling threat on Telegram, writing: “Retaliatory actions are being prepared.”
This followed Kyiv launching long-range rockets for the first time on 18 November, after US President Joe Biden approved their use by Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops.
Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine had carried out fresh strikes, on 23 and 25 November, using the ATACMS rockets.
Two out of five missiles launched on Saturday damaged a Russian S-400 air defence system.
Two soldiers were wounded in the second attack which saw eight missiles launched at the Kursk-Vostochny airport, which is also a military airbase.
Russia’s defence ministry posted pictures of what it said were fragments of a ATACMS, showing large casings on the road.
The Ukrainian military also fired British Storm Shadow rockets, which are capable of dodging air defences, on 20 November.
This deadly strike was said to have killed a top-Russian military man, Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk, and 500 North Korean troops, who were sent to help Putin’s army.
This elicited a furious reaction from Moscow who retaliated by firing intercontinental ballistic rockets into several Ukrainian cities for the first time, on Thursday.
Putin previously threatened to continue unleashing his devastating ICBMs on Ukraine and already threatened to strike the UK and US “if necessary.”
The despot said he would not hold back from using the destructive “Oreshnik” hypersonic ballistic weapon, which hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Kyiv fears Russia may already have 10 of the terrifying weapons in its arsenal with Putin vowing to mass produce dozens more.
