04 February 2023 , 07:03
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A portrait artist believes that Vladimir Putin is not using a body double and has honed in on specific facial features to prove her point.
Simone Malik, from Bradford, says the Russian president is alive and has used tiny details on "key areas" such as Putin's nose, ears and lips, as reasons why she is "almost certain he's not using a body double".
Instead, she puts the 70-year-olds rounder, puffier appearance down to signs of "natural ageing or an underlying health condition."
The 42-year-old, who based her findings off of Putin's appearance at Moscow University last week, said: "There's rumours going around that he's been using a body double or he's dead.
"But based on some key elements, I don't think a body double has been used. I recognise a crease on his ear and the very distinct slant in his lip. With his lips, you can see even in his younger days his lips slant on the left side - when he smiles you can see his face dips to one side. It's an area that's gotten worse with age but it's still there.
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There are rumours that Putin is using a body double (Mikhail Klimentyev/AP/REX/Shutterstock)"With his ears, one side of his ears is slightly thicker and he's also got a crease in the ear. If you look at a natural or average human ear, it doesn't have that extra crease - it's a defining thing about Putin's ear.
"He's also got the same slope in his nose from his side profile. Every angle of his face compared with the younger Putin matches up."
Simone, a former NHS worker who now works as a portrait artist, added: "I think it's always been him, unless someone can show me another image or video where he looks different.
"His face has changed quite a bit, it used to be a bit more stretched and now it's a bit rounder with more puffiness. But that's very consistent with natural ageing or underlying health issues that could be ongoing.
Simone Malik is an expert in facial recognition (SWNS)
Simone has pointed out specific features that Putin's ears have (SWNS)"His skin looks a bit different, he used to have more of a tanned face but not so much anymore. That could be for a number of reasons - again ageing, health or maybe just less time in the sun."
Ms Malik is a "super recogniser", someone who has extraordinary face recognition capabilities, which is a skill that its supporters say can't be taught.
Agency Super Recognisers International, which works with people purporting to have the gift, says on its website: "Super Recognisers are people with an extraordinary face-recognition ability. The skill cannot be taught - Super Recognisers are born this way."
She said that Putin has an unusual crease on his ear (SWNS)Simone has worked on high profile cases and sketched an image of what Madeleine McCann would look like aged 18 last year.
She said she had a "strong theory" that Madeleine would have the same nose profile as her aunt, Philomena, rather than one matching her mum or dad.
Simone first discovered her skill while watching a TV programme about rapist and murderer Imran Ali, who was then on the loose in Pakistan but has now been caught and hanged for his crimes.
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She put a sketch of him on social media which went viral and, within days, police in the country had used it to track down the lead suspect.
She said: "It was a spur of the moment thing. I was watching the TV and this face came in front of me. I quickly did a sketch. I did it at about two in the morning because I couldn't sleep.
"I worked out his eyebrows and what his forehead would be like. I thought 'this is the person. The next thing I know is that Punjab police were in touch with me, and within the week, they'd got this suspect who matched the image on my sketch.
"His DNA matched with eight victims, including the girl that had died, and then within the year, he was hanged."