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Vladimir Putin's recent appearances by his body double, claims Telegram channel
The channel - which cannot be verified - also claimed that all the recent appearances by Putin have been carried out by a body double.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously unwell and his recent appearances are by a body double or doubles, according to a Telegram channel that claims Putin is terminally ill, a report by British tabloid Daily Mirror said.
The Mirror report quoted the channel’s allegations over the weekend that Putin suffered a “cardiac arrest” on Sunday evening and was resuscitated in an intensive care ward in his residence.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in a regular call with reporters, denied suggestions that the president was using body doubles, calling that an "absurd hoax". The President is fit and well, Peskov said, according to Reuters.
Putin, a judo enthusiast who has long cultivated an "action man" image, turned 71 on Oct. 7. He maintains an intensive schedule of meetings and public appearances, many of them televised.
His recent programme included a visit to China last week, with stop-offs in two Russian cities on the way back.
In a 2020 interview, Putin denied longstanding rumours that he uses body doubles, but said he had been offered the chance to use one in the past for security reasons. In April this year, Peskov said talk of body doubles was "yet another lie" and that Putin was in an enviable health.
The Telegram channel cited by the Daily Mirror, General SVR, has been suggesting that the Russian President was terminally ill and had a health episode on Sunday.
The Mirror report quoted from the Telegram channel: "At about 21:05 Moscow time, security officers of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who were on duty at the residence, heard noise and sounds of falling coming from the president's bedroom. Two security officers immediately followed into the president's bedroom and saw Putin lying on the floor next to the bed and an overturned table with food and drinks.
“Probably, when the president fell, he hit the table and dishes and knocked them onto the floor, which caused the noise. Putin convulsively arched while lying on the floor, rolling his eyes. The doctors who were on duty at the residence and located in one of the adjacent rooms were immediately called.”
