Anyone following European politics surely remembers the wedding photo of Austria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karin Kneissl, dancing with Vladimir Putin in 2018.

Kneissl left her position the following year when Austria's government collapsed due to a scandal.

After her resignation, the former government official began establishing closer ties with Russia and eventually settled in the country amidst the ongoing war.

How did this happen? What are the sentiments about her actions in her homeland? Read about it in the article by European Pravda journalist Khrystyna Bondareva One-way Dance with Putin: How Austria's Former Foreign Minister Chose Russia as Her New Home.

Before settling in Russia, Karin Kneissl had gone through several tumultuous years. Her happy marriage, which drew worldwide attention, fell apart.

Officially, she shared her grievances about her difficult (and financially strained) life, which allegedly began after that famous dance with Putin, on her personal website. She claimed she was prevented from working in her home country, essentially presenting herself as a political refugee.

"In September 2020, Karin Kneissl had to leave her country due to persistent death threats and an effective ban on work in Austria. After a long search, she found a small farm in France to start over with her animals. However, the media frenzy from Austria caught up with her, and she had to move again," Kneissl's website reads.

In June 2022, she relocated to Lebanon with her dogs and a pony, where she obtained a residence permit and found a house in the northern part of the country.

While living in Lebanon, Kneissl regularly traveled to Russia. Her Instagram account, besides featuring numerous photos with her animals, is filled with posts from various places in Russia.

For instance, she posted pictures of a snow-covered Moscow in December with a sweet caption, "Moscow + snow = beauty." This post didn't go unnoticed, especially by the Prime Minister of Poland, given the striking contrast with the war-ridden Ukrainian cities. Mateusz Morawiecki responded with appropriate photos of Ukrainian cities in wartime, captioned, "Snow, darkness, war. Kyiv and Kharkiv."

Kneissl's trips to Russia were used by Russian propaganda. She readily engages with the Russian media, spreading narratives favourable to the Kremlin.

Moreover, this summer, the former Austrian Foreign Minister spent time in the Russian village of Petrushovo in Ryazan Oblast, which Russian propagandists praised as "better than the Maldives and Seychelles." Kneissl was spotted at a local festival, addressing the local residents in Russian.

Austria's largest regional newspaper, Kleine Zeitung, wrote about Kneissl's "Russian summer love" and called it "a mockery of a parallel universe." The conservative Austrian newspaper Die Presse went as far as publishing a column titled "Karin Kneissl's Russophilia is more than just embarrassing."

Finally, in September, Kneissl announced that she would be moving to St. Petersburg to work at the G.O.R.K.I. center, which she currently heads.

These striking changes in Kneissl's life haven't gone unnoticed in Austria and even in neighbouring Germany. Kneissl used to work as a freelance journalist in the German press. Her former colleagues keep a close eye on her.

In Austria, one of her close friends, former ambassador Alexander Christiani, reacted strongly to news about her activities in Russia. Some even called for revoking Kneissl's citizenship, arguing that the former Foreign Minister "harms the country" due to her closeness to Russia. However, her successor, Alexander Schallenberg, claims there are no legal grounds for this.

Kneissl is increasingly compared to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who became a persona non grata for his refusal to sever ties with Putin.

It's hard to imagine under what circumstances Kneissl could be forgiven. Nevertheless, it's heartening to see that in countries like Austria, which struggle to distance themselves from Russia due to historical ties, unapologetic Putin supporters find it exceedingly challenging to continue their normal lives.