Paranoid Putin ‘certainly’ uses body doubles to dodge assassinations | World | News

Vladimir Putin uses body doubles to avoid assassination attempts, according to a former MI6 chief. Three pictures taken within a month of each other appear to show the Russian President with different shaped chins.

Sir Richard Dearlove said the paranoid leader “certainly” uses doubles to make public appearances. However, he explained how they would not be used in close-contact diplomacy or sensitive meetings as the deception would be too hard to maintain.

As reported by The Sun, Sir Richard said: “There will be occasions, and it would depend on the circumstances, when he certainly, for security reasons, would have a body double.

“It’s almost a normal security measure for somebody like Putin – who is a very high-profile target. Bear in mind that assassination has been a pretty common part of Russian politics for many, many years.”

Putin’s risk of assassination has intensified following Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has become increasingly concerned about his vulnerability, particularly in outdoor settings.

Sir Richard said that Putin’s body doubles would not be used in face-to-face meetings due to the risk of exposure. However, they are used for outdoor appearances, such as at a children’s playground, where the press are at a distance.

Ukrainian security services have claimed men similar to Putin have been trained to appear in his place. However, Moscow insists that he remains fully visible to the public.

In 2023, an authoritative report by TBS, a Japanese TV network, used AI to examine facial recognition and concluded the real Putin hosted the annual Red Square Victory day parade. However, a different Putin may have inspected the Crimean Bridge 11 months ago, with only a 53% match of the pair.

TBS said: “Experts on face recognition would refer to this as ‘not matching’ in most cases, which leads us to the assumption this could be a double.”

Likewise, when Putin appeared on the front line in Mariupol last March, the AI technology produced only a 40% match. Pictures of the Russian leader in Crimea produced a score of just 18%.

The report added: “Expert analysis is clearly displaying the high probability of at least two body doubles.”