Video claiming Putin is using body doubles goes viral in Russia as bizarre ... trends now
A video is going viral on Russian social media claiming Vladimir Putin is conning his people by using multiple body doubles for trips he doesn't want to make.
It seizes on speculation that the Kremlin president's only trip so far to newly-invaded territory in Mariupol was performed by a doppelgänger, and asks: 'Who is ruling Russia?'
It is unclear who made the footage but it appears to be aimed at reaching Russians who rely on uber-loyalist state media for their news.
The footage poses the question: 'Who visited Mariupol?'
It states: 'Specialists long ago noticed the differences between the Russian president's body doubles.
The video promotes the theory that Putin is using doppelgängers for trips he doesn't want to make
Kyiv official Anton Gerashchenko posted three images of Putin's chin and questioned whether they belonged to the same man. He taunted: 'What's up with your chin, Putin?'
'A ledge on Putin's earlobe constantly changes.
'As does a small mole on his face.
'One of the Putins has straight wrinkles on his face, the other has small and interrupted [wrinkles].
'This is impossible even if he had botox injections.'
Putin is widely believed to have had regular plastic surgery as he has aged since first becoming acting president on the last day of 1999.
The video states: 'Specialists long ago noticed the differences between the Russian president's body doubles'
Putin is widely believed to have had regular plastic surgery as he has aged since first becoming acting president on the last day of 1999
Vladimir Putin's first visit to Mariupol, occupied Ukraine, late on 18 March, 2023
The footage poses the question: 'Who visited Mariupol?'
Ukraine's Interior Minister advisor also mocked Putin's trip to Mariupol. He said: 'Looks like lately his make-up artists (i.e. for the recent trips of the bunker man to the occupied Crimea and Mariupol) had to work with quite a low-quality copy, not even a double but its copy'
Rumours are rife that Putin 'understudies' - who have undergone plastic surgery to resemble him - are deployed increasingly as his health worsens amid rumours of cancer and early stage Parkinson's.
'Evidently the weakest double was sent to Mariupol,' states the video in Russian.
'They forgot to put in his jaw.'
It questions if this 'double' has false teeth.
It concludes by asking: 'After all, how many Putins do we have?
'Who is ruling Russia?'
