The Kremlin has laughed off rumors <a class="Link" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/russia" target="_blank">Russian</a> President <a class="Link" href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/vladimir-putin" target="_blank">Vladimir Putin</a> is suffering from ill health and dismissed as a “hoax” claims that the strongman uses body doubles.

"Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

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He was responding to reports that circulated in Western media, and appears to have originated from a self-styled Russian insider group called <a class="Link" href="https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/russian-president-vladimir-putin-suffers-cardiac-arrest-in-presidential-bedroom-an-insider-group-reveals/news-story/c02c8dff64dd79a4c8e53bec6ae8f3d8" target="_blank">General SVR</a>.

The group alleged via social media that Putin, 71, had suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday and was found lying on his bedroom floor.

Peskov also dismissed a question about Putin’s alleged use of doppelgangers.

"This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity. This evokes nothing but a smile.”

In response to the rumors, the Kremlin also released images of Putin, which were dated today, meeting Denis Manturov, Russia’s minister of industry and trade.

 <div class="Enhancement-item"><figure class="Figure mb-1 mb-sm-3 mb-md-1 article-lead-photo data_invisible" data-align="center" width="100%"> <div class="Figure-container"> <picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" type="image/webp" width="767" height="512"></picture> <figcaption class="Figure-caption" itemprop="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Russian Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov during a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. </figcaption> <div class="Figure-credit" itemprop="author">Gavriil Grigorov/AP</div></div> </figure>
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Putin’s health has long been speculated upon and rumors only increased with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Russian leader reportedly <u><a class="Link" href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/03/these-are-the-measures-vladimir-putin-takes-to-avoid-covid-19/" target="_blank">went to extreme measures</a></u> to prevent himself from catching the virus. Coupled with the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Putin’s international travel schedule has significantly been reduced.

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On the subject of body doubles, in 2020, Putin himself addressed the rumors, telling state media TASS that he was offered the chance to have one for security reasons in the early 2000s during Russia’s war with Chechnya but declined to do so.

“I refused to have doubles," he said at the time. "It was during the most difficult time of the fight against terrorism.” 

The Kremlin has laughed off rumors Russian President Vladimir Putin is suffering from ill health and dismissed as a “hoax” claims that the strongman uses body doubles.{ai:summary}<p>Kremlin denies rumors of Putin's ill health and use of body doubles, calling them hoaxes and fake. Putin's health has been a topic of speculation, especially during the pandemic and Ukraine war. (#foreignaffairs)</p>