2023-04-25 16:14:35
The Kremlin has rejected what it says are lies that Russian President Vladimir Putin has doubles to replace him and spends most of his time in a nuclear radiation bunker.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments about what he described as slanders against Russia during a speech in which he touched on the country’s history since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the causes of the Ukraine war and alleged betrayal by Western society.
Peskov said during a conference in Moscow: “You may have heard that he (Putin) has many look-alikes who do his work for him while he sits in a hideout,” and then said, laughing, “another lie.”
He added, “You see for yourselves what our president looks like. He was and still is very active, and whoever works next to him hardly catches up with him.”
And he continued, “You can only envy him for his energy. We do not wish him to stay healthy, God willing. And of course he is not hiding. This is also a lie.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected speculation that Putin, who has led Russia since 1999, is ill.
During an official visit to Moscow last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Putin he was convinced voters would support the Russian leader again in the 2024 presidential election. Putin has not yet announced whether he will seek another term.
Putin has pledged since assuming power to end the chaos that prevailed in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, but the military operation in Ukraine is the most serious military crisis faced by any Russian president since the Soviet-Afghan war between 1979 and 1989.
The conflict in Ukraine sparked the fiercest confrontation with the West since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, while Putin vowed to shift attention from the West to China.
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