Why the 'absurd' rumours about Vladimir Putin's health won't go away

By Connor Parker, Multimedia Producer

The Kremlin has once again claimed Vladimir Putin is fit and healthy after denying a rumour he was dead.

On Friday, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the 71-year-old Russian president had died at his Valdai residence, north of Moscow, saying the report from the Telegram channel General SVR was "absurd information" and labelled it a false story.

It was the second time this week the Kremlin denied there was an issue with Putin's health after a story circulated that he had suffered a heart attack on Sunday.

"This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity. This evokes nothing but a smile," Peskov said.

Denying the Russian president has any major health issues has become a routine part of the Kremlin's press operations job, but why does it come up so often?

Where do the rumours come from?

Rumours Putin has suffered a heart attack, has blood cancer or even that he uses a body double routinely appear in the media.

Mark Galeotti, honourary professor at University College London and an expert on modern Russia told ITV News the secrecy around Putin fuels the rumour mill.

He said: "We know so little about Putin really, his private life, his health, his social life are very much a black box subject.

"Therefore in some ways, there's no other information because we don't believe Kremlin press spokespeople, so there's no other information to challenge these rumours."

He said he believes the rumours mostly originate from within Russia rather than coming from international operators and that these people "aren't even necessarily working against Putin, this is just a way to get noticed."

He pointed out that the moment a rumour is spread, they're published in "half a dozen British newspapers" and all over the world - "this gets you traction, this gets you noticed."

The fact these stories are spread at all is just part of human nature when people are keen for knowledge and there is no official and truthful information available, Prof Galeotti said.

He added: "Gossip becomes so important... when you can't believe the official line but you still want to know what's going on then they're that much more susceptible to claiming they have a friend who has a friend and so on."

What do we know about Putin's health?

Very little. The only things we do know, according to Prof Galeotti, is he has back problems and for a 71-year-old man that is almost to be expected.

He said in his view people should not give any credence to the claims being put out from unverified sources like the reports seen this week.

Prof Galeotti pointed out the US, with its considerable resources, believe he is healthy.

When commenting on rumours of Putin's ailing health last year, CIA Director Bill Burns remarked: "As far as we can tell, he's entirely too healthy."

Does he use a body double?

For years there have been rumours Putin uses a body double, with videos comparing different appearances of the Russian president all over the internet.

Some Ukrainians have backed the theory and used it to mock the Russian leader.

In March, Interior Minister advisor Anton Gerashchenko tweeted three images of Putin side-by-side and asked: "Which one do you think is the real one?"

Prof Galeotti said he does believe the president uses a body double but not as extensively as claimed.

He said some of the videos of Putin mingling in crowds could be a double.

The use of body doubles has always been denied by the Kremlin, with Peskov commenting once: "I can tell you there are no doubles when it comes to work and so on."

In 2020, Putin himself denied rumours that he uses body doubles, although he said he had been offered the chance to use one in the past for security reasons.

Is it all positive for Putin?

Although there are some benefits of confusing enemies with misleading information, Prof Galeotti does not think consistent rumours about Putin's health are a benefit to the Kremlin.

"This is an intensely personalistic system, the health of the monarch - and that's essentially what he is - is a crucial systemic security factor," he said.

"If he dies tomorrow there is no succession process, there is no heir apparent.

"So obviously Putin's health matters and people are voracious consumers of rumours that anyone claims to have insider knowledge of what's going on."

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