Putin body double rumours reignite after minister slip-up
Russian leader is facing suspicion for using body doubles
Vladimir Putin is facing renewed body double rumours, after a minister was caught referring to him by a different name.
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In a video by the Kremlin, the deputy prime minister for agriculture, Dmitry Patrushev, appeared to call Vladimir Putin ‘Pal Laich’, which theorists believe is a nickname for Pavel Nicolaevich, the alleged body double of the president.
A pro-Kremlin newspaper, Kommersant, admitted confusion over the comments made by Patrushev.
"It seems that no one can explain what it was. Maybe he got overstressed
."Maybe he wanted to say something about something, but he caught himself."
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In the official transcript of the video, Patrushev is claimed to have said "Vladimir Vladimirovich", Putin’s correct first name and patronymic.
Rumours of Putin using body doubles for his safety have been swirling for years.
In 2020, the Russian leader claimed that a plan to use body doubles for him was proposed in the early 2000s, but he rejected it.
However, in 2022, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian military intelligence, asserted that Putin regularly uses body doubles.
"There are at least three people [body doubles] who periodically appear," he said.
Budanov also claimed that the former KGB agent's height and the shape of his ears have changed throughout the years.
Some conspiracy theorists claim that the real Putin has died, or is hidden in a bunker, and is running the country through doppelgängers.
The Deputy Prime Minister is not the only Russian figure to refer to Putin using the wrong name.
Putin has also been referred to by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, as "Vladimir Vasilyevich".
In response, some social media users asked if "they know something we don't".