Rumours around Vladimir Putin’s ill health and alleged ‘death’ have been circulating for the last few weeks as a Russian Telegram channel pushes stories about the Russian President. General SVRclaims to be working with insider Kremlin information and has said that Putin died following a cardiac arrest at his residence in Valdai over a fortnight ago. There is no evidence to support these reports, and Russian officials have vehemently denied that anything is wrong with Putin.
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The channel has since reported on the leader’s memorial service and issued several posts about Putin’s body double, who the channel now claims is himself unwell with Covid 19. This is not the first time that suspicion around Putin using a body double has been raised. Recently, the findings of Japanese researchers using Artificial Intelligence suggested that the Russian President is using two body doubles. Furthermore, a video of Putin is circulating where he makes a strange comment that is adding fuel to the fire. Let’s get into the details.
Japanese AI suggests Putin uses two body doubles
An advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, posted the Japanese researcher’s findings on X:
By analyzing Putin's various speeches with the use of modern artificial intelligence technology, Japanese experts have concluded that the Russian president probably has at least two doubles.
One of the doubles was identified as the "real" Putin, who attended the Red Square parade in May 2023. After comparing the facial features of this Putin with the one who drove across the Crimean Bridge in a Mercedes car in December 2022, the Japanese experts found only 53% similarity.
This information was originally published by The Sun, and has not been verified. However, if the AI that the researchers were using is accurate, this analysis clearly suggests ‘the likelihood of at least two Putin doubles’.
Putin’s odd comment adds fuel to the fire
A video has been circulating on X which shows Putin talking to a young child. In the clip, which has been viewed over a million times, the child asks the Russian leader, ‘Are you Putin?’, to which he responds:
Yes, yes. For now, I am.
Gerashchenko shared the clip, with the above translation, and asked:
‘Putin's double' doesn't hide it anymore?
However, on Sunday 5 November, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov laughed these body double rumours off:
Experts are now wondering if there are three of four. And who do we see every day now, is he the third or the fourth double? It's unclear, isn't it? But Putin is the only one.
Putin recently celebrated his 71st birthday, and shows no signs of giving up his position of power any time soon. As he continues to lead Russia, more rumours about him are sure to surface, but none of these body double claims have been verified yet.
Read more:
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⋙ Putin's health rumours may have been spread by Moscow officials, Ukrainian intelligence claims
Sources used:
Newsweek: Putin Body-Double Claims Analyzed by Facial Recognition Experts
Express: Putin 'body double' rumours explode after Russian leader's bizarre comment in video
