London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

People are convinced Putin uses body doubles as his chin 'keeps changing'

People are convinced Putin uses body doubles as his chin 'keeps changing'

Conspiracy theories about Vladimir Putin using body doubles are nothing new, but some of his recent public appearances have caught people’s attention.

A video circulating on social media attempts to question the reality of Putin’s surprise visit to Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, asking ‘Who visited Mariupol?’

It is unclear who created the video but it appears to be aimed at Russian nationals who rely on the country’s state TV for their news.

The footage states: ‘Specialists long ago noticed the differences between the Russian president’s body doubles.

‘A ledge on Putin’s earlobe constantly changes as does a small mole on his face.

‘One of the Putins has straight wrinkles on his face, the other has small and interrupted [wrinkles].

‘This is impossible even if he had botox injections.’

Anton Gerashchenko, an official based in Kyiv, posted three images of Putin’s chin and questioned how they could all be his.

One picture showed Putin in Sevastopol on March 18 with a sagging chin, but on March 19 in Mariupol, his chin was tight.

Ukraine duly mocked the Russian president for allegedly ‘sending a lookalike to war-ravaged Mariupol’ in the high-security visit.

‘Evidently the weakest double was sent to Mariupol,’ the video states in Russian.

It taunts: ‘What’s up with your chin, Putin? They forgot to put in his jaw.’

The video also questions if the ‘double’ has false teeth, adding: ‘After all, how many Putins do we have? Who is ruling Russia?’

There are claims makeup artists help put the doppelgangers together


Mr Gerashchenko continued: ‘Looks like lately his make-up artists (i.e. for the recent trips of the bunker man to the occupied Crimea and Mariupol) had to work with quite a low-quality copy, not even a double but its copy.

‘I wonder which one of them was real?’

This builds upon claims made in the past suggesting Putin has regular plastic surgery to make him look younger since becoming president in 1999.

There are other rumours his ‘understudies’ have also undergone plastic surgery to resemble him, and are often deployed to various places.

This comes amid rumours his health is worsening from cancer or early stage Parkinson’s.

Former Putin associates from his time working for the KGB have also claimed he uses body doubles.

There are claims the Russian dictator has had botox in the past


Sergei Zhirnov used to believe these were conspiracy theories but now says Putin uses them.

He said Putin was isolated, ‘skinny’ and coughing on February 21, but his appearance at a pro-war rally the next day was different.

He told Ukrainian TV ‘a totally different Putin pops up’ with ‘a wider face as if he bloated in 24 hours.

‘He has a totally different shape of eye orbits, a totally different head, absolutely different wrinkles – a different voice,’ he claimed.

Former Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov warned the existence of body doubles posed a risk if Russia lurched into a coup.

‘The presence of a double can interfere: you think that you have arrested Putin, but it turns out that you have held his understudy,’ he said.

‘You can arrest a stand-in, show him on TV signing his “resignation”, and announce the transfer of power to the prime minister or to some Committee of National Salvation.’

But it would be necessary for the ‘original Putin to prove that he is him, and not a double’.

He stated: ‘In short, if the doppelganger exists, then the people responsible for his movements are potentially very important participants in the process and the organisers of the conspiracy should not forget about them.’

In October 2022, it was claimed a Putin ‘body double’ was deployed for a public appearance in which the tyrant was seen shooting a sniper rifle and greeting soldiers at a military training camp.

And in December it was claimed he used deepfakes and body-doubles to attend public events to mask his rapidly deteriorating health.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×