A woman heckled Putin, shouting 'it's not real!' during his dead-of-night propaganda trip to Mariupol, and state media didn't catch it before the video aired

© POOL Russian TV/AP In this photo taken from video released by Russian TV Pool on Sunday, March 19, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with local residents during his visit to Mariupol in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, Ukraine. POOL Russian TV/AP

• A woman shouted "It's not real! It's all for show!" during Putin's PR visit to Mariupol in Ukraine, Meduza reported.
• State media edited the video to remove the late-night heckling, but not before it spread online.
• Russia had said Putin's trip and meeting with residents in the captured city was "spontaneous."

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a late-night visit to Mariupol this past weekend, meeting with residents who told him the occupied, war-torn Ukrainian city is a "little piece of paradise." 

But state media was caught editing one of the videos from Putin's propaganda trip, removing a heckler's comments from the background, according to reporting and translation by Meduza.

In the original video, Putin meets with local residents near a new apartment complex in the dead of night. During the conversation, a woman can be heard interrupting Putin and the residents, yelling "It's not real! It's all for show!"

—Will Vernon (@BBCWillVernon) March 20, 2023

A new version of the video released later was missing the heckler's comments.

During the trip, Putin also toured inside apartment buildings, in what residents say is "essentially the only rebuilt section of the completely destroyed city," according to Meduza. 

Other official videos show Putin driving around, hearing about new children's playgrounds and renovated theaters in a town that his forces destroyed last year.

International observers, Western governments, and Ukrainian forces have accused Putin's troops of targeting civilians with artillery and missile strikes during the invasion of the city.

According to AP, Russia said Putin's trip was spontaneous.

Ukrainian officials condemned the trip, noting that an estimated 25,000 people have died in Mariupol since the war began.