In 2015 Russian diplomacy protested against Jose Manuel Barroso "exposing private conversation of leaders", when the latter quoted Putin boasting "I could take Kyiv in two weeks, if I wanted". No recording of this phrase was published, but Kremlin did not deny it happened, only explained it was "misunderstood" and "taken out of context". That threat back then did not gain too much media attention because Russia was still officially denying any military presence in Ukraine in spite of abundant OSCE monitoring evidence to the contrary. These blatant claims of how fast Russia "can take Kiev" however became again popular in 2021 when Russia started openly threatening Ukraine with an invasion - Russian politicians and propagandists were outbidding each other who "takes Kiev" faster. After the complete failure of Russian offensive on Kyiv in 2022, Russian propaganda switched tone and started fiercely denying anyone ever said anything about "three days" or any other specific period. While the "three days" compilations are widely available, Russians usually dismissed them as "babbling of publicists", and claimed "no Russian officials" ever made such statements. The Barroso quote however demonstrates that it was very much Putin himself who originated this mania of boasting who takes Kyiv faster, and Russian media celebrities only followed his example.