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Russian leader Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to occupied Ukraine this weekend.
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A trip to the besieged area has renewed claims that Putin is using body doubles in public.
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Skeptics believe his doubles had surgery to look like him, pointing to his ears as evidence.
Vladimir Putin is Surprise visit to the occupied territories of Ukraine This weekend, Russian leaders updated conspiratorial claims of using a team of body doubles in public, with critics pointing to one strange body part to prove their claims. Has – his ears.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, the besieged Ukrainian city that Putin has visited, told Telegram that “President Putin or one of his alter ego” would leave the occupied territory overnight, according to a digital outlet. I wrote that I visited local today The Washington Post has republished an article originally written.
of Original Washington Post article Updated to use body double to remove references to Putin. The article’s author did not immediately respond to an insider’s request for comment on why the article was updated.However, the Washington Post is not the first publication to mention the possibility of Putin’s body double. .
The plot may sound outlandish, but there is an element of truth to it. Political decoys are sometimes used in the international arena, where people can be identified by specific ear measurements.
Putin’s body double theory
In an interview with daily mailAccording to Budanov, doubles were previously detected as a stand-in for President Putin only on “special occasions,” but have been observed as “normal practice” since the invasion of Ukraine.
Budanov said in October, “I know specifically that three people keep appearing, but I don’t know how many.” rice field.”
He added:
British news site 1 week According to reports, Putin’s estimated height is 5 feet 7 inches.
Newsweek Budanov reiterated his claims in an appearance on Ukrainian TV channel Groshi in August that “pictures of ears are individual and cannot be repeated,” but allegations that Putin is using his body. No concrete evidence has been presented to support this. double.
ears as proof
Budanov’s claims about Putin’s health and his use of the body double cannot be verified, but the use of the ear as forensic evidence has been documented for decades. Using measurements to identify criminal suspects, in the age of algorithms, Wired A reported ear identified by software could be a more unique identifier than a fingerprint.
International Business Times In 2018, Putin called the idea of using a body double “one of the more unusual conspiracy theories.” Once again on Putin’s ears after an online poster shared a series of photos that went viral on social media. Focused and analyzed for possible clues.
user on twitter Comparing the sagging of his earlobes with photos from 2006 and 2018, he speculated that Putin’s body double went to Ukraine, focusing on the specific curve of his ears.
“As you get older, your ears don’t change. They just get bigger, they don’t change proportions,” says Mark Nixon, a computer vision expert at the University of Southampton and a leading authority on ear recognition. increase. BBC.
Advances in 3D scanning technology have made it possible to identify someone even in a blurry image by measuring the distance from the earlobe to two points on the top of the ear in just 0.02 milliseconds with 99.6% accuracy. . BBC Reported in 2017.
Use of political decoys
Claims that Putin is using a body double Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last Februarythey are not new and are not limited to the Russian leadership.
last month, Newsweek Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reported on rumors that he himself used a double during a meeting with US President Joe Biden. Biden visit to UkraineBiden has also been accused by conspiracy theorists of using a body double when he received his COVID-19 vaccination. political fact.
International politicians from Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler to Queen Elizabeth and Melania Trump are also said to have used decoys during their leadership years, says Indian news agency wio news report.
A 2017 video of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared to show the dictator talking to two doppelgangers dressed in the same outfit. new york post Existing rumors that he was dying or already dead escalated.
Budanov said he believed Putin was seriously ill. A theory that has long been circulating among critics of the Russian leaderbelieves he may be suffering from diseases ranging from cancer to vague obscurity “I am in very bad physical and mental condition.” As Budanov surmised sky news May last year.
The theories of politicians using body doubles often seem to correlate with rumors of their illnesses and other infirmities.
Several instances of political deception have been publicly confirmed, but Henry Kissinger’s political aide said he used impersonation during a covert trip to China in 1971. CNN —It remains unclear if Putin has ever used one.
But the speculation on this issue is clearly irresistible.
Read the original article at business insider
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