A pro-Putin paper called De Andere Krant (The Different Paper) which was distributed in the Netherlands over the past few weeks was financed by a wealthy organic farmer from Brabant, the NRC said on Wednesday.

Hugo Jansen (66), who also campaigns against ‘the Jewish elite’, donated €6,500 to fund a 50,000 print run for the paper, the paper says.

The paper, described by Russian press agency TASS as ‘the paper which writes about the real situation in Russia’, criticised Western politicians for supporting IS and said prime minister Mark Rutte was not interested in finding out the truth about MH17.

It also claims Dutch opinion makers were also said to be promoting war with Russia.

Jansen earlier put up billboards along the A4 in support of Putin and financed meetings in an Amsterdam debating centre in which Russia’s geopolitical role was praised.

In a reaction to the NRC article, Jansen said on his blog that he had not wanted to seek publicity and that the volunteers who distributed the paper were not aware of his other activities.

‘It is hardly surprising that I support Putin,’ he said. ‘Putin has been painted black for years, because America wants to be world dictator. At least, that is what I read in their programmes.’