04 January 2024 , 10:49
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An alleged body double used as a stand-in for Vladimir Putin was poisoned with “toxic substances”, it was claimed today.
This comes as the "main doppelgänger” was separately named for the first time as Yevgeny Vasilyevich, originally a carpenter from Belarus.
The Putin stand-in “developed rashes on the skin of the upper and lower extremities and on the neck, which doctors initially mistook for an allergy”, reported Telegram channel General SVR. The channel is among several sources claiming one or more Putin lookalikes are regular deployed as body doubles for the 71-year-old dictator, a theory supported by Ukrainian military intelligence.
Kremlin doctors gave medication but “when the test results became known, they urgently contacted the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, who was informed that the double had been exposed to toxic substances”, said the channel. “The life of the backup was not in danger - probably the dose was too small. Now they are trying to figure out how the toxic substance entered the body of the double.”
A probe was launched by the FSB and FSO security services into a suspected assassination bid, said the channel, which claims to have inside knowledge of the Kremlin while providing no hard evidence and being seen by many as a source of conspiracy theories. The double has been used for “numerous meetings and events”, and while posing as the president was in contact with many people who could have poisoned the stand-in, it was alleged.
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Meanwhile, a Russian political analyst claims the main stand-in is in fact a “fourth-rate carpenter” from Belarus. The doppelgänger’s real name is Yevgeny Vasilyevich, according to Dr Valery Solovey, formerly a professor at Moscow’s prestigious Institute of International Relations [MGIMO], a training academy for Russian spies and diplomats.
Vladimir Putin in his New Years speech, critics claim the 2024 speech was given by a lookalike called Yevgeny Vasilyevich (Kremlin/Valery Solovey/east2west news)Dr Solovey - branded a “foreign agent” by the Russian regime - suggested in his latest video that the carpenter lookalike had been trained by the Moscow secret services to play the role of Putin. Ukraine ’s military intelligence service claimed this week that the Kremlin deploys at least three Putin stand-ins.
Dr Solovey - also seen by critics as a conspiracy theorist - said that it was carpenter Yevgeny Vasilyevich who broadcast Putin’s New Year message seen across all 11 Russian time zones. He had long claimed - like the Telegram channel - the real Putin was seriously ill with cancer, and he told followers October 2023 that the Russian president had died to be replaced by doppelgängers ultimately controlled by the shadowy Nikolai Patrushev, 72, formerly chief spymaster at the FSB.
“Those of you, dear friends, who saw the so-called New Year greeting of the so-called Russian President, probably noticed that it was very short,” said Dr Solovey. “It was not just very short, it was one of the shortest in the history of Putin [New Year messages]… Why was it one of the shortest? The answer is clear. So that you don't look and listen. Not to look at the appearance and not to listen to the voice of the man.
“This man, Putin's double, is called Yevgeny Vasilyevich. He comes from Belarus. Originally from Belarus. Yevgeny Vasilyevich. Yes, a fourth-rate carpenter. That's the truth.”
Russian people have long questioned whether their leader is using body doubles (Social media/EAST2WEST NEWS)Others have suggested that the New Year broadcast was an AI image of Putin. The Russian president’s neck appeared out of sync with his body, as if his head was superimposed for the televised speech, according to observers.
Political analyst Dr Solovey did not give the alleged imposter’s surname, instead referring to him by his supposed first name Yevgeny and patronymic, or middle name, Vasilyevich.
Since last year jokes have referred to a body double named ‘Vasilyevich’ after top Russian churchman Patriarch Kirill, head of the Orthodox Church, blundered as he addressed Putin during a meeting as “Your Excellency, much-esteemed Vladimir Vasilyevich”, before correcting himself to name the president correctly Vladimir Vladimirovich.
A meme circulated on Russian social media regardingVladimir Putin's use of doubles (social media/e2w)At the time, in July, Dr Solovey said Kirill knew about Putin and his body doubles. He told Zhivoy Gvozd, YouTube today that Vasilyevich “is the patronymic of the doppelgänger”. He said the patriarch - being close to Putin - “knows the patronymic of the doppelgänger”. The political analyst claims - without offering hard evidence - to have inside knowledge from the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency spokesman Andriy Yusov said this week: “This information [on Vladimir Putin using body doubles] is confirmed by many sources… [It] is no longer some kind of news or something that needs to be proven in the world… The technology of doubles has been used before and is being used now, in particular by Vladimir Putin or his entourage, people who influence the situation in the Kremlin.”
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Versions vary but claims are made that body doubles are used because Putin is seriously ill or hiding in a bunker due to paranoia about his security, or deployed by his entourage because the dictator is dead. General SVR claims that Patrushev intends to use the ‘poisoned’ double in March’s presidential elections.