Despite the official Twitter account of Russian President Vladimir Putin only following 22 people, there are a few surprise names on the list.

Some of the handles are expected: Accounts like RT and Sputnik (state media platforms) and Russian government organisations and officials like Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Kremlin and Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

However, the addition of SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk and former actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger are more surprising.

Global leaders like Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Jens Stoltenber (the Secretary-general of Nato) also make the cut, despite Putin’s well-documented dissent of the West and the North Atlantic Alliance.

Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, William Partlett, said it was likely the Russian leader’s Twitter account would be managed by his administration and not himself directly.

“Most people tend to suggest he doesn’t spend any time on the internet, and if so it would be very, very little time,” Professor Partlett told news.com.au.

“One of the main issues he’s had with this whole invasion is that he’s so isolated and cut off from information that he honestly thought the thing would be over in two to three days, and now we’re entering the fourth week.”

Prof Partlett said social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram (before they were banned in the country) and WhatsApp are more popular than Twitter in Russia.

Instead, he believes Putin’s official account – which he notes is exclusively in English – is used as part of the Kremlin’s “information strategy”.

A Flourish data visualization

“They understand that Twitter is used by a lot of people in the West to push out information,” he said. “Obviously it’s in English so it’s not at all focused on the Russian community.”

This could also explain the addition of names like Musk and Schwarzenegger – which may appear to make the account seem more legitimate.

“As far as I can see, [Putin’s Twitter account] is just a way of pushing out information,” he continued.

“They’re also always looking to try to see if they can influence some people in the West.

“All of this is to try as best as they can to either convince Russians or people outside of Russia that what they’re doing is justified, or to even confuse and create alternative sources and so forth.”

Interestingly, despite Musk and Schwarzenegger openly criticising Putin’s actions in relation to the Ukraine invasion, both continue to be accounts on his “following list”.

In recent weeks billionaire Musk has been vocal in condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Not only has he bolstered Ukraine’s communication efforts by gifting them with Starlink satellite internet portals, he also challenged Putin to a one-on-one fight.

Schwarzenegger has also publicly spoken on the invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, the former governor of California issued a nine-minute plea for Russians to hear “the truth” about Putin’s war on Ukraine.

According to the Moscow Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, Max Seddon, Schwarzenegger was considered for the position of the US ambassador to Russia – a move which was supported by the Former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the United States National Security Council, Fiona Hill.