Kremlin rejects speculation that Putin is ill and uses body doubles

MOSCOW – The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected speculation about President Vladimir Putin’s health, saying he was fit and well.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in a regular call with reporters, also denied suggestions that the president was using body doubles, calling that an “absurd hoax”.

Reporters asked Mr Peskov about Mr Putin’s health following an unsourced report by a Russian Telegram channel, picked up by some Western media, that the Russian leader suffered a serious health episode on Sunday evening.

Mr Peskov laughed in response to a further question about body doubles, and denied that Mr Putin had any.

“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,” he said.

Mr 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 stopovers in two Russian cities on the way back.

In a 2020 interview, Mr Putin denied longstanding

rumours that he uses body doubles,

although he said he has been offered the chance to use one in the past for security reasons.

In April 2023, Mr Peskov said talk of body doubles was “yet another lie”, and that Mr Putin was in enviable health. REUTERS