FOOTAGE showing a woman spraying bleach on to passengers’ crotches to stop "manspreading" was faked by the Kremlin, an EU-sponsored group claims.

It is now being alleged the stunt on St Petersburg's metro was cooked up in Vladimir Putin's troll factory which hired actors in a plot to whip up anti-feminism.

According to EU vs Disinfo, an organisation set up to debunk and expose lies spread by the Kremlin, one of the men in the video said he was paid for the stunt carried out by law student Anna Dovgalyuk, 20.

The group's website claimed the aim was to provoke a backlash against feminism as part of a propaganda war aimed at creating social division in the Western countries.

It claims: "The video stages extreme feminist activism and manages to provoke extreme anti-feminist reactions.

"The video and its reactions also echo negative messages about feminism, the MeToo movement and 'political correctness' in the West, which Russian state television has repeatedly delivered."

But Miss Dovgalyuk has repeatedly insisted it is not fake and insists she was battling manspreaders which she said was a "disgusting act that is being fought around the world - but hushed up here".

She claims to have now started splashing a mixture of water and bleach on the groins of men with their legs spread too far on the St Petersberg metro.

Anna warned her targets in a video: “This solution is 30 times more concentrated than the mixture used by housewives when doing the laundry.

“It eats colours in the fabric in a matter of minutes - leaving indelible stains.”

Anna, who calls herself a "social activist", claims the bleach stains are "identification spots" to "immediately understand which body part controls the behaviour of these men.”

The student claimed to be acting “on behalf of everyone who has to endure the manifestations of you declaring your macho qualities on public transportation”.

Russian news outlet Rosbalt has claimed the video is fake - but Anna has insisted it is "absolutely real".

She also revealed no one has sued her so far, adding: "I don't think people are going to go to the police to file a report about jeans."

Anna has previously achieved worldwide attention by flashing her underwear to commuters to raise awareness for upskirting laws in Russia.

Last year, Hillary Clinton slammed Russian president Vladimir Putin for manspreading.

The ex-US presidential candidate said: "Every time I met with him, it would be…the whole deal”.