Vladimir Putin appeared at the Kremlin in Moscow on 5 March for a meeting with women from military and civilian professions ahead of International Women's Day, but images released from the event quickly reignited an older and still unproven claim that the Russian president is dead and being replaced in public by a double.
Rumours about Vladimir Putin's deathand alleged body doubles have been circulating for roughly two years, with one of the most persistent versions claiming he died in late October 2023 at his Valdai residence and that a stand-in has been used ever since. The Kremlin has publicly dismissed those allegations, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously calling them an 'absurd information canard', but the theory has never quite gone away.
What revived it this week was not any new evidence. It was a photograph. Or rather, a set of photographs that internet sleuths immediately began pulling apart with the sort of confidence the internet specialises in, and the evidence rarely justifies.
The event itself was straightforward enough on paper. Putin hosted decorated women in uniform and women from other sectors in a formal Kremlin setting. In official remarks, he praised women taking on responsibilities in fields long treated as male professions, pointing to their roles in the military, the defence industry, research, and frontline cultural work.
'Fake Vlad' awkwardly surrounded by woman at Kremlin as 'real Putin is dead' mystery growshttps://t.co/ypc9D1P0OWpic.twitter.com/57rLrUXyDI
That would ordinarily have been the whole story. Instead, attention drifted almost at once to how he looked, how he stood, and how close he appeared to the women around him. For years, Putin has often been associated with choreographed distance and long tables that turned even routine meetings into a strange little theatre. Here, by contrast, he was placed in a tighter group setting, surrounded by women carrying bouquets, smiling for a photograph meant to soften power with ceremony.
That contrast was enough for the conspiracy machine to whirr back into life. Online commentators began pointing to what they described as stiffness in his posture, awkwardness in the group photo, and supposed differences in his face. Earlobes were studied. His chin was studied. Forehead lines were studied. One does wonder what the Kremlin makes of the fact that every public appearance now seems to produce an amateur forensics lab in the comments.
Putin original and 2.0. The original Putin was an evil POS. He was arrested by the Russian military then executed. Putin 2.0 was replaced as a white hat before the great awakening.pic.twitter.com/g8PSDBBj3p
There is a more serious point underneath the absurdity. The body double theory survives not because it has been proved, but because it feeds on the opaque habits of Russian power. The fewer unscripted moments the Kremlin offers, the easier it becomes for speculation to fill the space. Nothing in available reporting confirms that Putin is dead, that a body double was used at this event, or that any alleged coup has taken place.
The claims themselves trace back to General SVR, aTelegram channel that has spent months insisting Putin diedand that the Russian system has been managing the aftermath behind a curtain of doubles and managed appearances. The allegation first circulated in late October 2023 and quickly spread because it was neatly packaged and almost impossible to disprove to the satisfaction of people already inclined to believe it.
Source: International Business Times UK
