VLADIMIR Putin “certainly” uses body doubles to dodge assassins as part of a tight Russian security protocol, a former MI6 chief told The Sun.
Sir Richard Dearlove doubled down on “credible” intelligence reports by the Ukrainian secret service agencies that it is Putin’s body doubles who make public appearances over assassination fears.
Speculation that Putin deploys body doubles has swirled for years – as well as rumours of the tyrant’s ill health.
Now, new intelligence assessments and mounting security risks have given the theory renewed weight.
Sir Richard told The Sun: “There will be occasions, and it would depend on the circumstances, when he certainly, for security reasons, would have a body double.
“It’s almost a normal security measure for somebody like Putin – who is a very high-profile target.
“Bear in mind that assassination has been a pretty common part of Russian politics for many, many years.”
Western officials and security experts say those risks have only intensified since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to strike deep inside Russian territory – fuelling concerns inside the Kremlin about Putin’s vulnerability, particularly in outdoor settings or loosely controlled environments.
Sir Richard added: “He would be a drone target for the Ukrainians as well, if they could know exactly where he was when.
“So I think it’s quite logical that in certain circumstances… he uses a body double.”
While the Kremlin has always dismissed such claims as conspiracy theories, recent reporting suggests Russian security services have tightened protocols around the president’s movements.
And Putin’s appearances have become increasingly choreographed, which are heavily filtered through state media.
According to Sir Richard, doubles would not be used in close-contact diplomacy or sensitive meetings, where deception would be too difficult to sustain.
“The times when a body double would be used would not be in a face-to-face meeting because it would be very, very difficult to replicate Putin when you’re that close,” he said.
“But let’s say someone is walking around a car factory, or visiting a children’s playground — particularly if it’s an outdoor event and the press is at a distance. There’s a security implication there.
“You can’t be sure of controlling the environment entirely, particularly from a drone attack.
“These are the sort of occasions where Putin would use a body double.”
Ukrainian security services have repeatedly claimed that several men with a build, gait and facial structure similar to Putin have been trained to appear in Putin’s place.
Moscow insists the president remains fully in command and visible to the public.
In 2023, an authoritative report by the major Japanese TV network TBS used AI to examine facial recognition and body movement.
It concluded the real Putin hosted this year’s annual Red Square Victory Day parade on — but a different Putin may have inspected the Crimean Bridge 11 months ago.
AI technology found only a 53 per cent match of the pair.
TBS said: “Experts on face recognition would refer to this as ‘not matching’ in most cases, which leads us to the assumption this could be a double.”
Another Putin appearance – on the Ukraine war front line in Mariupol in March – produced only a 40 per cent match.
And pictures of Putin in Crimea produced an even lower likeness score of just 18 per cent.
The report said: “Expert analysis is clearly displaying the high probability of at least two body doubles.”
According to Ukrainian military intelligence chief Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, Putin has previously sent body doubles on trips over fears for his life.
He said the Russians used doubles to “save the leader’s time” and “where it is dangerous, it is better to risk the double”.
Budanov did not give examples of where he thought a double had been used.
In an interview with The Sun, Viktor Andrusiv, Captain of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, backed the claims.
Mr Andrusiv, who served as the ex-adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said: “I think it’s quite logical that in certain circumstances, Putin would use a body double.”
The Ukrainian official referenced about Russia’s long history of using body doubles since Stalin – adding that Putin is just “following this tradition as a leader of the Soviet Union or Russia.”
Paranoid despots have long used body doubles to deceive, he said.
Actor and illusionist Felix Dadaev was Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s political decoy.
Although there was a 40-year age gap, Dadaev adopted Stalin’s mannerisms and used make-up for the deception.
Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein had at least three body doubles, according to a German forensic pathologist.
And Cuba’s Fidel Castro employed doppelgangers when he was sick and as decoys to cheat the estimated 634 attempts on his life.
British leaders have also employed doubles for propaganda and espionage purposes.
Winston Churchill used a stand-in to deliver some of his most famous radio speeches during World War Two.
Well-known actor Norman Shelley even delivered the famous line: “We shall fight them on the beaches.”
According to Shelley, Churchill was too busy to attend studio recordings of speeches he had already delivered in the House of Commons.
Also during wartime, MI5 used a soldier with an uncanny resemblance to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to deceive the Germans over the Normandy invasion.
Lieutenant Clifton James was flown to Gibraltar – where German agents caught the Monty lookalike talking about a fictitious Plan 303.
Unknown to them, the real Montgomery was safely in the south of England planning the D-Day landings.
Putin’s rumoured health issues
DESPITE Putin’s cultivation of himself as an “action man” – questions have long been raised over his health.
The leader’s facial features have been seen changing over time, according to reports and could lead to possible signs of a serious disease plaguing Putin.
Parkinson rumours have been thrown towards the Russian president as well as pancreatic cancer after bombshell documents were shown to The Sun.
A persisting tale is that scores of Putin lookalikes – who have undergone years of painful plastic surgery – are ruthlessly trained by the FSB and kept under “constant surveillance”.
Based on the day-to-day shifting nature of Vlad’s face and strange changes in his behaviour, commentators have alleged these stand-ins frequently attend public appearances, walkabouts and meetings.
Alongside all of this, some other tell-tale signs have loomed over him for years.
He is regularly seen twitching on his public sightings and is unsteady on his feet, and out of breath on occasion.
Mad Vlad has been seen clutching a thick blanket while watching a parade in 2022 and was even seen swaying and slurring as he spoke with a glass of champagne in his hand.
But his alleged health issues hit a new low after it emerged that he apparently soiled himself during a fall at his home.
Putin has been pictured with suspected track marks from IV treatment on the back of his hand – amid rumours he may have been suffering from other forms of cancer as well, including stomach cancer.
The ageing president is also followed around by a huge team of doctors who reportedly chaperone him on all of his trips in case of a medical emergency.
