Vladimir Putin, the great humanitarian of our time? All the reasons he’s anything but

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Schorr, I. (2026, October 21). Vladimir Putin, the great humanitarian of our time? All the reasons he’s anything but. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/21/opinion/putin-the-great-humanitarian-of-our-time-all-the-reasons-hes-anything-but/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-21 · by Isaac Schorr
Content note This article describes violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

A negotiator named Steve Witkoff recently praised Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian, but the article counters this by highlighting Putin’s harmful actions and policies. It mentions Putin's role in the deaths of political opponents like Sergei Yushenkov and Alexander Litvinenko, his involvement in Russia’s war with Ukraine resulting in over 450,000 Russian casualties and significant civilian suffering in Ukraine, and the abduction and forced re-education of Ukrainian children by Russian troops. Additionally, the article points to Putin's imprisonment of American journalists on false charges, such as Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Summary unavailable.

Written for “Trilateral Talks To End War In Ukraine” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 18 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans strongly left for article 97718 (high confidence, 6 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-21

Story

📰 Trilateral Talks To End War In Ukraine
Politics · 19 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 17% hedged 1 of 6 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe Steve Witkoff praising Vladimir Putin as a 'humanitarian' during a meeting in St Petersburg on the same date.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles report on Steve Witkoff's statement referring to Putin as a 'humanitarian' after the release of an American prisoner, indicating it is the same specific occurrence.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 27 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes Putin hosting Trump's envoy and freeing a US citizen, while Article B is an opinion piece satirizing Putin as a humanitarian based on the meeting mentioned in Article A.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 24 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles mention different days for Witkoff's interaction with Putin: Wednesday in Article A and Tuesday in Article B.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
19
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 12667 article(s) · 33 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 33 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Isaac Schorr
11 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Or Alexander Litvinenko, the whistleblower who Putin remembered preferred polonium in his tea and, in his thoughtfulness, ensured that he had it served to him all the way over in London. Or Boris Nemtsov, the opposition leader who met the same fate as Yushenkov in 2015. Or Alexei Navalny, the would-be reformer sent to an Arctic penal colony where he perished with South American dart frog poison in his system.
🔮 Control of the Senate, he charged, “could come down to how much the news media chooses to focus . . . on a tweet sent years ago by the younger half-sister” of El-Sayed.
🔮 Were it not for his sexual misconduct, New Yorkers would never have promoted the hapless Hochul.
🔮 Yes, Minnesota may have some regrets.
🔮 James was asked how she could be trusted to handle the disturbing Cornell sexual assault case after her prejudicial comments on the matter.
🔮 The picture being painted by insiders, however, is of a hypercompetitive contest with a number of outstanding questions that will ultimately decide it.
🔮 In order to engage in a criminal investigation, you would need a referral from the governor of the state of New York.”
🔮 In embracing the left’s unhealthy obsession with the world’s only Jewish-majority state — not to mention the Middle East’s only liberal democracy — he saw an opportunity to excite the Democratic base by signaling that he would carry Platner’s fallen tiki torch across the finish line.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Maine Democrats replaced one sleazy bigot with another
🔮 The idea that he might have to apparently never crossed his mind.
🔮 “We thought by sending Najya to a mostly low-income and Black school, we could help improve it for all the children there,” mused Hannah-Jones, citing her ability to cut checks and use her “connections and time and status” to change things on the ground.
Also by Isaac Schorr
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 11 articles by Isaac Schorr →

Topics

American Americans KGB Russian Russians

Subjects

Putin PERSON · 6× Americans NORP · 3× Russian NORP · 3× Russians NORP · 3× American NORP · 2× KGB ORG · 1× Kremlin ORG · 1× Steve Witkoff PERSON · 1× Vladimir Putin PERSON · 1× Witkoff PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Or Alexander Litvinenko, the whistleblower who Putin remembered preferred polonium in his tea and, in his thoughtfulness, ensured that he had it served to him all the way over in London. Or Boris Nemtsov, the opposition leader who met the same fate as Yushenkov in 2015. Or Alexei Navalny, the would-be reformer sent to an Arctic penal colony where he perished with South American dart frog poison in his system.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-21
🔮 Or Alexander Litvinenko, the whistleblower who Putin remembered preferred polonium in his tea and, in his thoughtfulness, ensured that he had it served to him all the way over in London. Or Boris Nemtsov, the opposition leader who met the same fate as Yushenkov in 2015. Or Alexei Navalny, the would-be reformer sent to an Arctic penal colony where he perished with South American dart frog poison in his system.

Claims (21 extracted, 1 hedged)

Thanks to American negotiator Steve Witkoff, Vladimir Putin is finally being recognized as the great, selfless humanitarian he is. asserted
he → recognize → humanitarian
“You are a humanitarian, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you,” Witkoff said Tuesday. asserted
Witkoff → salute → you
Certainly, Putin’s legacy is a record of altruistic achievement that can be neither denied nor surpassed. asserted
that → deny → achievement
The KGB alum loves his country and its people so deeply that after more than two and a half decades in their service, he still won’t retire from his exceedingly stressful day job at the Kremlin. asserted
he → love → Kremlin
He loves his neighbors so much that he invites them, rather insistently, to live under his benevolent rule. asserted
he → love → rule
And he loves Americans so much that he often won’t let them go home. asserted
them → love → Americans
Just ask Sergei Yushenkov, the liberal leader shot dead outside of his home in 2003 only a few hours after his party had been officially certified for the upcoming election cycle. asserted
party → ask → cycle
Or Alexander Litvinenko, the whistleblower who Putin remembered preferred polonium in his tea and, in his thoughtfulness, ensured that he had it served to him all the way over in London. Or Boris Nemtsov, the opposition leader who met the same fate as Yushenkov in 2015. Or Alexei Navalny, the would-be reformer sent to an Arctic penal colony where he perished with South American dart frog poison in his system. asserted
he → remember → system
Putin never forgets the little people, either; his forced conscription system sends young men to new and exciting places, like the front lines of his war of aggression on Ukraine, where 450,000 Russians have died and 1.4 million have been counted as casualties as of a July estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. asserted
million → forget → Studies
More than 17,000 civilians have been confirmed dead by the United Nations, which concedes that the actual amount of innocent blood spilt is much, much higher. asserted
amount → confirm → blood
And speaking of innocents, the young Russians have been tasked with abducting even younger Ukrainians they find. asserted
they → speak → Ukrainians
Estimates suggest tens of thousands of children have been shipped off to “re-education camps.” asserted
thousands → suggest → camps
The figures don’t do justice to the stories, though. asserted
figures → do → stories
Truly, there is no limit to what Putin is willing to do to, er, for his fellow man. asserted
Putin → be → man
Then there are the Americans he’s taken a liking to. asserted
he → be → liking
And like Stephen Hubbard, the 74-year-old veteran and retired teacher who could be seen being beaten with a sandal in one video recorded after he was taken prisoner in 2022. uncertain
he → retire → 2022
Gershkovich and Whelan were only released upon the return of detained Russian agents who had actually committed crimes, like FSB assassin Vadim Krasikov. asserted
who → release → Krasikov
And likewise, Griner was swapped for Viktor Bout, a convicted terrorist known as the “Merchant of Death.” asserted
Griner → swap → Death
Hubbard was finally released on Wednesday, a few days after the Trump administration blocked sanctions that were set to take effect under the Lindsey Graham Act. asserted
that → release → Act
If Putin didn’t value the company of his American friends, why would he demand so much to let them go? asserted
them → value → much
You are a humanitarian, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you. asserted
I → salute → you
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support