Vladimir Putin: Kremlin makes rare statement about his health, says 'his energy can only be envied'

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has made a rare statement addressing speculation around Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health and rumours that he uses body doubles.

It comes as Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, claimed it was not Putin who visited the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Luhansk Oblast on 18 April, but one of his body doubles. He said:

Well, first of all, Putin was not there. This is a well-known fact. In order to communicate with the real Putin, you must spend at least 10–14 days in quarantine. There was no Putin there. There was an ordinary double, of which he has more than one; this is also a well-known fact.

Vladimir Putin's 'energy can only be envied'

Peskov said in a speech to teenagers and children at an education event in Moscow broadcast on state TV:

You have probably heard that he (Putin) has very many doubles who work instead of him while he sits in a bunker. Yet another lie.

You see yourselves what our president is like: he always was, and is now, mega-active - those who work next to him can hardly keep up with him.

He added:

His energy can only be envied. His health can, God willing, only be wished for. Of course, he doesn't sit in any bunkers. This is also a lie.

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Kremlin forced to address rumours before

The Kremlin has claimed Putin is healthy before, notably when it claimed he had played hockey in June 2022. Peskov said at the time:

I can tell you one thing that yesterday, I know, in the afternoon, actually he played hockey. It's about yesterday, he was playing hockey, and then think about his health by yourself.

He also pointed to Putin’s apparent three-and-a-half hour long speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, saying:

Just think, if an unhealthy man can perform like that.

Sources used:

Reuters: 'Kremlin dismisses 'lies' that Putin has doubles and sits in a bunker'

Ukrainska Pravda: 'Peskov assures that there's only one Putin and he's not in a bunker'

Daily Mail: 'Kremlin issues extraordinary denial that Putin uses body doubles and hides in bunkers as spokesman insists 70-year-old dictator is 'mega-active''

Ukrainska Pravda: 'Putin's double visited Kherson Oblast – Ukraine's National Security Council Secretary'