Months ago, a political expert is said to have predicted the death of Russia's president. He would allegedly be 'dead before the end of autumn', according to sources.
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Is Vladimir Putin going to die soon?
Time and again, reports have surfaced about Vladimir Putin's state of health. The 'questionable' Telegram channel General SVR, as news.de describes it, recently even announced Putin's death due to a heart attack.
But these rumors remain what they are: Pure speculation. After all, there is no proof; experts see the Telegram channel mentioned as an 'untrustworthy source'.
Read more: Kremlin insider calls Vladimir Putin's health back into question, claims he's 'half dead'
Rumours about rumours
It was not only the alleged death that was made public on the channel. The existence of a Putin lookalike, who would replace the real Putin, is also said to have been discussed. The Kremlin has already responded to the rumours.
Rumours of his death have been publicly denied, but this has not 'silenced' the conspiracy theory. The political expert named Valery Solovoy, who is now speculating on the rumour of the Russian president's imminent death, put it forward in an interview with the YouTube channel Khodorkovsky Live.
Read more:Putin's health rumours may have been spread by Moscow officials, Ukrainian intelligence claims
'Putin is terminally ill'
Solowei is said to have said about Putin two months ago that he was 'terminally ill' and 'close to death', the source continued. He is said to have said:
As soon as Putin dies, we will find out about it within a few hours. It will be reported, we will find out - because there are too many parties, both outside Russia and in Russia itself, who have an interest in this information becoming public knowledge.
Fake news
Other experts, such as Andriy Yusov, representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, see the rumours on the part of Moscow as part of a 'playbook'. The speculation was only being spread 'to see how the Russian public would react to this news', according to newsweek. It is all 'just fake news'.
This article has been translated from Gentside DE.
Sources used:
news.de: '"Noch vor Ende des Herbstes"! Experte sagte Putin-Tod bereits vor Monaten voraus'
newsweek: 'Putin Death Rumors Were Spread by Russian Officials: Ukraine Intel'