Putin's illness and the deployment of body doubles have been denied by the Kremlin.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 3 PM GMT+5:301 minute to read
24 October
2018 - President Vladimir Putin is fit and well, the Kremlin claimed on
Tuesday, dismissing rumors to that effect.
In a routine call with reporters, Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov also refuted claims that the president was using body
doubles, branding it a "absurd hoax".
Following an unverified claim by a Russian
Telegram channel that was picked up by the Western media that the president had
experienced a serious medical episode on Sunday evening, reporters questioned
Peskov about Putin's health.
On October 7, Putin, a judo fanatic who has long
developed a "action man" persona, turned 71. He keeps a busy schedule
that includes several televised meetings and public appearances.
His most recent
itinerary includes a trip to China last week, with stops in two towns in Russia
on the way home.
Putin refuted long-running rumors that he
employs body doubles in a 2020 interview, however he acknowledged that he had
previously been given the option to do so for security concerns.
Putin was in ideal health, according to Peskov,
who claimed that rumors of body doubles was "yet another lie" in
April of this year.