This is how to distinguish the real Putin from his doppelgangers
Vladimir Putin's travels cast doubt on the Russian president. Does he systematically use doubles to make state visits on his behalf?
Even though the use of lookalikes and stand-ins has never been proven in the case of the current Russian president, this practice has long been commonplace in the USSR.
Every time the Kremlin boss moves around, this theory resurfaces. For some, Vladimir Putin does not have just one double; he has several who are sent into the field in the boss' place, whose obsession with security is widely known. This is why Putin's physical appearance (and his possible aliases) during each of his public trips is under scrutiny. Software that compares "morphological markings" has helped cast doubt, but it has never been possible to prove the existence of different Putin look-alikes.
An opening between the eyes, a prominent spot on the cheek, a notch on the brow, so many details, sometimes disturbing, that do not constitute proof, but a bundle of clues that allow reasonable doubt. The vein on the temple and the shape of the ear are other details to watch for. Some believe in a yet slightly more far-fetched theory: a doppelganger, they say, wears a silicone mask.... Again, without conclusive evidence.
As former French MP of Ukrainian origin Valeria Faure-Muntian explained to TF1 in April, "The use of lookalikes to replace leaders while traveling is an old Soviet practice." It is now well established that Stalin had an official double in the person of Felix Dadaev, who was used to publicly replace the former president of the USSR because of "security issues."
So why wouldn't Putin do this?
(FVDV and LpR by Tagtik/Picture: Pixabay)
