While Vladimir Putin’s state of health is fueling all rumours, former Russian spy Sergei Jirnov speculates that the Kremlin leader would use body doubles to replace him. An idea also put forward by the British secret services.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the health of Vladimir Putin raises all the rumors. Brain cancer according to some, blood cancer according to others… If the Russian government firmly denies these rumors through the voice of its Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergueï Lavrovit would seem that the strong man of the Kremlin is indeed suffering, appearing emaciated, trembling and anxious to keep a distance with his interlocutors.
But how to explain the multiplication of his public appearances, especially on Russian television? The British intelligence services have their hypothesis: Vladimir Putin would employ look-alikes to replace him. A theory shared by Sergei Jirnov, a former Russian spy. Asked by the journalist Marie Chantrait about this hypothesis, the author considered it “not so ridiculous as that”. “You know in Russia, they say there are three Putins. And the Putin we saw in the hospital is not the one we saw in the Kremlin,” he continued. .
u27a1ufe0f On the health of Vladimir #Poutine
ud83dudd34ud83dudde3ufe0f “Putin had a little surgery a few days ago. On the decoy theory, it’s not that ridiculous”: Sergei Jirnov | @mchantrait. pic.twitter.com/Ne8Lk6N5yo
— LCI (@LCI) May 30, 2022
“Are you the real Putin?”
To back up his remarks, the former spy said he was focusing on the suspicious “shape of the ear” of the Russian president. “We found three Putin with the shape of different ears. And that, on the Kremlin channel during his appearances,” said Sergei Jirnov.
For its part, British intelligence puts forward the idea that Putin would even broadcast pre-recorded videos of his speeches. We even venture to say that if the head of state were to die, his death would be kept secret for months.
As a reminder, during a press conference in February 2020, a journalist from the Russian news agency TASS asked the Russian president: “Are you the real Putin?” Response of the person concerned: “I refused to have duplicates”. A few minutes later, the latter affirmed that such a measure had already been proposed to him.
Moreover, “it is not excluded that these rumors of illness are a way for Putin to manipulate his entourage, tempers Sergei Jirnov. His objective could be to dissuade the people of the Kremlin from organizing a coup d’etat”.
For now, all hypotheses remain on the table.