September 21, 2026, 4:33 pm | Read time: 2 minutes

The X account Visegrád24 posted a video on September 18 showing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin casting an electronic vote. As Putin sits at his computer, moves the mouse, and casts his vote, the familiar “Activate Windows” message appears in the bottom right corner of the screen.

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Afterward, Putin says, “You can’t go wrong with that.” But on social media, attention quickly shifted to something else. Users noticed the Windows activation notice and discussed why such a message appears on the Russian president’s computer.

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The Election Takes a Backseat

The video was made during the Russian parliamentary election, where all 450 seats in the State Duma were up for grabs. According to preliminary results, the Kremlin-aligned party United Russia secured the majority once again.

However, critics doubt that the election was conducted under fair competition conditions. Several politicians who opposed Russia’s war in Ukraine were not allowed to run. Additionally, Russia did not invite independent observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This gave the video additional attention and it quickly spread online.

Is the License Really Missing?

Visegrád24 interprets the visible notice as a sign of a potentially unactivated Windows version. However, this cannot be confirmed based on the video. The message alone does not reveal why Windows is requesting reactivation.

Microsoft cites several reasons that could trigger such a notice, including significant changes to a computer’s hardware. After replacing a motherboard or other central components, Windows may require reactivation even if a valid license is present. Which Windows version was running on Putin’s computer and why the notice appeared remains unclear. So far, neither Microsoft nor the Kremlin has commented on the incident.