Putin's Remarks About Being Unrecognizable Spark Furious Speculation

Vladimir Putin has addressed rumors that he uses a body double in comments that have been seized upon by an academic who had previously claimed that the Russian president is dead.

Speculation about Putin's health has escalated over the course of the war in Ukraine that he started, and there have been numerous reports that he uses body doubles in public appearances, a claim that the Kremlin has denied.

The Russian president seemed to refer to the rumors during a visit to the far eastern district of Chukotka, telling an audience that in meeting former classmates or fellow students, "they often look at me and say, 'I don't believe it, is it actually you, or not you?'"

He said it showed that a person "doesn't always know how they would behave when they find themselves at a certain level of responsibility."

The 24-second clip was posted on X by Valery Solovey, a former professor at Moscow's Institute of International Relations [MGIMO], who wrote, "the so-called 'Putin' publicly complained that his friends no longer recognized him."

Solovey has claimed Putin had died in October 2023 and that the secretary of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, was secretly running the country. He told the Ukrainian presenter Dmitry Gordon that Putin's body was stored in a freezer.

As long ago as 2017, Solovey had suggested that Putin might resign due to ill health. In December 2022, he said that Putin was being treated with cancer drugs for an unspecified advanced cancer and that the "end was in sight."

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied allegations about Putin's ill-health.

At the end of October 2023, Russian Telegram channel General SVR joined Solovey in saying that Putin had died, without providing proof. Also without giving any proof, Solovey claimed that a body double was successfully used to replace the real Putin in many public activities and meetings during the last few months.

Ukrainian presenter Dmitry Gordon has challenged Solovey on his views, asking him if he was "in the freezer or is he alive and well?" to which the academic replied, "he is in a freezer. He was moved in December to a new refrigerator," according to reports.

Solovey has also predicted that Putin's death will be announced some time this year and Patrushev's son, the Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev, will succeed him. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.

Putin's remarks came during a visit to Russia's far east ahead of the presidential election scheduled for March which he is widely expected to win. He also told an audience in Chukotka's administrative center, Anadyr, about government policies aimed at encouraging large families as the country faces a demographic crisis.

Update 01/11/24, 7:49 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add context.