Turns Out Fake Putin? "Afraid of Assassination, Uses Double... Even Practices Walking Style"

Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with Andrey Nikitin, Governor of Novgorod Oblast, at the Moscow Kremlin on the 22nd of last month (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] There are claims that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who invaded Ukraine, has been using a look-alike as a double to avoid coup and assassination threats.

On the 2nd (local time), the British Daily Star cited sources from the Kremlin (the Russian presidential office) reporting that President Putin recently dismissed eight military generals and is closely monitoring the possibility of a coup within the military leadership.

Earlier, on the 12th of last month, Oleksiy Danilov, chairman of Ukraine's National Security Council (NSC), stated that President Putin had abruptly dismissed eight top-ranking generals, holding them responsible for the failure of the invasion of Ukraine.

Since then, sources explained that President Putin has been extremely cautious about using a double due to fears of coups and assassination threats.

According to the sources, the man acting as the double lives in the same building as President Putin and has even been trained to walk in the same manner. It is also said that he has appeared in place of President Putin during Kremlin meetings.

This demonstrates how paranoid President Putin is about his personal safety and is evidence that he takes his security very seriously, the sources said.

The sources added, "Nevertheless, it will not take long for the military leadership to find vulnerabilities in President Putin's security detail system," and "It would not be surprising to hear news of President Putin's death within the next few months." However, they added, "It is doubtful whether Russia will admit that President Putin died due to an internal coup at that time."

Meanwhile, rumors that President Putin uses a double for personal protection have circulated for a long time. In this regard, in 2020, President Putin himself denied the double usage rumors.

At that time, President Putin said in an interview with the state-run TASS news agency that although he was offered the idea of using a double for security purposes, he refused it.