Did Putin's ‘body double' meet Trump? Conspiracy theories from 2010 resurface of Russian President's ‘6 stand-ins'
The high-stakes meeting did not succeed as the leaders could not reach an agreement over the ceasefire. However, the videos emerging from the summit re-ignited a topic which has long been a subject of speculation across the globe: Putin and his 'army of six body doubles'.
On Friday, several netizens expressed their suspicion over Putin sending over one of his doubles to meet Trump. They pointed out that Putin, who usually expresses very little emotion from his expressions, seemed more 'animated' in the videos from the summit.
However, this is not the first time such claims have been made about the Russian leader. Widespread memes and media reports have, over the years, claimed that Vladimir Putin has six body doubles, each performing a particular duty and having a distinct feature.
Around 2010, a meme went viral describing Putin's six doubles. The meme included different images of Putin as well as his alleged body doubles. It suggested that 'Babbler' Putin is deployed for Direct Line shows, "Diplomat" Putin participates in negotiations, "Banquet" Putin is used "for interviews, handshakes, and photos with the public", "Kuchma" Putin can be seen with a "record-breaking chubby chin", and "Udmurt" Putin is used when "Babbler" "needs a vacation".
Russian journalist Oleg Kashin posted this again on Facebook in September 2016, making it more popular.
A netizen on Friday claimed that 'Jovial Putin' had come to meet Trump in Alaska.
'It's literally not even the real Putin. They didn't even send the good double, they sent 'Jovial Putin', the expendable one that usually just makes minor public appearances and went to visit Kim in NK,' the user wrote on social media platform X.
'It will emerge somewhat later that that wasn't even Putin in Alaska. The Russians did care enough to send their No. 1 Putin body double, but the body language is different. Trump couldn't tell,' another user wrote.
'Trump just realized Russia sent Putin's body double's body double,' another one commented on a picture of the two leaders shaking hands.
"Rumours swirling! Was that really Putin in Alaska or his body double? Some even claim Trump wasn't the original at the #TrumpPutinMeeting. Conspiracy theories reaching new heights!" one user said.
Claims have also been made earlier that Putin has been increasingly using his body doubles due to his failing health.
Social media users also cited 2023 'Japanese research,' saying, 'Putin probably had at least one body double.'
After reports of Putin falling sick and using his body double started surfacing during the Covid-19 pandemic re-emerged, the Kremlin in 2023 issued a statement to reject them.
'Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about an unsourced report by a Russian Telegram channel.
'This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity. This evokes nothing but a smile,' Peskov said.
Before that, in 2020, in an interview with TASS, Putin denied using body doubles but accepted that he had been offered the chance to use one in the past for security reasons.
"What double? I don't have doubles. Why do I need them?" he had said to another journalist in 2015.
Following the Trump-Putin meet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday that he plans to meet Trump in Washington next week. Zelenskyy said that he held a 'long and substantive' conversation with Trump on Saturday after the US leader met Putin in Alaska.
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