Putin reveals old friends ask ‘is it actually you?’ and don’t recognise him amid mounting claims the Russian president uses a body double
Vladimir Putin has complained that his old friends often no longer recognize him, amid rumors that he regularly uses body doubles.
The Russian dictator, 71, told an audience in the remote Chukotka region that classmates at school and university do not believe it is really him.
‘When I (very occasionally) meet my classmates or fellow students, they often look at me and say: “I don’t believe it, is it really you, or is it not you?” he said.
“You see, a person doesn’t always know how he would behave when he finds himself at a certain level of responsibility.”
Dr. Valery Solovey, a former professor at the prestigious Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in Moscow, who claims Putin is dead and completely replaced by look-alikes, seized on the comment.
Vladimir Putin has complained that his old friends often no longer recognize him, amid rumors that he regularly uses body doubles
“The so-called ‘Putin’ complained publicly that his friends no longer recognized him and thought they were dealing with a lookalike,” he said.
Solovey – who once taught future Russian spies and diplomats – was challenged by leading Ukrainian TV interviewer Dmitry Gordon over his extraordinary and bizarre claims that Putin died in October 2023 with his body stashed in a freezer, while his security chief Nikolai Patrushev secretly was in charge of the prison. Kremlin.
An incredulous Gordon questioned him: ‘Now it turns out Putin is alive (and not dead as you said). So tell me, is he in the freezer or is he still alive?’
But the academic – labeled a foreign agent by the Kremlin – hit back: ‘It’s in the freezer. He was moved to a new refrigerator in December… a refrigerator designed to store bodies.
‘That is the only change that applies to him after his death (in October). There were no other changes. So all the information I have given you remains the same.
“And there’s no way he’ll be revived.”
He predicts that Putin’s death will be announced later this year and that 46-year-old Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev – now appointed prime minister – will succeed him.
Dmitry Patrushev is the son of Nikolai Patrushev, 72, secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council.
Rumors that Putin might use a body double have been circulating for years, ranging from Solovey’s wild claims to suggestions that he uses a look-alike for security reasons, hiring someone to replace him during official engagements, or for health reasons.
Internet sleuths have forensically compared photos of Putin over the years, claiming differences in his facial features showed from one public appearance to another.
Internet sleuths have forensically compared photos of Putin over the years, claiming that there were differences in his facial features from one public appearance to the next.
A sample of a video promoting the theory that Putin uses look-alikes for trips he doesn’t want to make, noting that a ridge on Putin’s earlobe is “constantly changing”
Putin was seen addressing the nation this year (right), compared to a speech two years ago in 2022, further fueling rumors that he had been replaced by a double
And earlier this month, an alleged Putin doppelgänger was ‘named’ as a ‘fourth-rate carpenter’ from Belarus who allegedly survived an assassination attempt.
Yevgeny Vasilyevich was ‘identified’ as the Russian president’s ‘main double’ as it was claimed he had been poisoned with ‘poisonous substances’.
He “developed a rash on the skin of the upper and lower limbs and on the neck, which doctors initially mistook for an allergy,” General SVR claimed on the elusive Russian Telegram on January 4 – without providing evidence.
The channel, known for its bold claims about Putin’s ailing health, is one of many sources claiming that one or more Putin lookalikes are regularly deployed.
General SVR claims to have inside knowledge of the Kremlin, but provides no hard evidence and is seen by many as a source of conspiracy theories.
The anonymous account appeared in 2020, ahead of the invasion of Ukraine, and claimed to be operated by former and current members of Russian official bodies.
Since then, the country has made a number of baseless and unproven claims about Putin and his government, further fueling speculation.
The report has now famously prompted a rare public statement from the Kremlin after claiming that Putin had fallen down a flight of stairs and soiled himself last year.
The speculation began circulating in June, when Putin made a surprise visit to the city of Derbent in southern Russia just days after the failed Wagner uprising. Footage showed the despot diving into a nighttime crowd like an actor on a red carpet.
Seemingly imbued with new energy after averting a small-scale civil war a week earlier, the normally stoic and isolated Putin was unusually personable. He shook hands and planted kisses on the head of a young teenage girl who gushed over him and begged her mother to take a photo of her with the president.
In another bizarre moment, he shook hands with – and appeared to try on something on the uniform of – an officer who may have been carrying his nuclear briefcase.
He has never greeted his security guards in such a manner before.
The scene was a marked departure from the extreme measures of recent years that have imposed strict quarantines on anyone outside Putin’s immediate circle before meeting him and enforced social distancing.
The Kremlin has even been forced to deny the twin rumors about the body.
“Everything is going well with him, this is definitely another fake rumor,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted in October when asked about a report that Putin had suffered a serious health crisis.
Putin this week insisted on keeping a distance of 22 meters between himself and other diplomats at a Kremlin event where he accepted the diplomatic credentials of several new ambassadors to Russia, including Britain’s new man in Moscow, Nigel Casey.
But during an appearance in June – seen by critics as a publicity stunt – Putin found himself deep in the crowd. He hasn’t seen the crowd greeted in such a way since before the pandemic
Observers have pointed to the Kremlin strongman’s changing appearance over the years as possible evidence that he is using someone else to replace him on assignments he does not want to take on or that he considers too dangerous.
Peskov then laughed in response to another question about body doubles, denying that Putin had them.
“I can tell you there are no lookalikes when it comes to work,” Peskov said.
He added: “Stories like this belong to the category of fake news, which is covered with enviable tenacity by a number of media outlets.
“This will bring nothing but a smile (in the Kremlin).”