Russian president Vladimir Putin has told Tass news journalist Andrei Vandenko that he has been offered the opportunity to use body doubles for security reasons in the past but declined to do so on each occasion.
Putin has been the subject of numerous internet conspiracy theories surrounding the use of body doubles, and Vandenko asked the Russian president whether he was indeed real during the interview, telling Putin that internet searches along the lines of “Putin body double evidence” are some of the most popular to be associated with him.
Putin rubbished the theories, telling Vandenko that it was indeed the genuine Russian president who was sat being interviewed, and going on to explain that the idea of using body doubles was first mooted during the early 2000s.
At the time, Russia was embroiled in combat with separatist fighters in the region of Chechnya, a war which raged from 1999 to 2009.
Putin was known to make several visits to the region during the period, and he said that the idea of security body doubles came about “at the most difficult moment of fighting terrorism”, but he turned down the chance.
Putin is due to step down as Russia's president in 2024, after four terms in power.
