Expert’s verdict on rumours Vladimir Putin is using body double – based on face analysis
A “super recogniser” has weighed in on whether Vladimir Putin has been using a body double.
Simone Malik reckons that the Russian dictator isn’t using a doppelganger for engagements and changes to his features are instead down to natural ageing or a sign of health conditions.
Speaking to the Daily Star Simone, who works as a portrait artist, explained that the 70-year-old nutter’s “bloated appearance, skin dullness, weight gain or loss is just a part of the normal ageing process or any underlying health issue.”
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Simone has weighed in on the debate following a flurry of headlines claiming that Putin was using a body double to attend a visit to Moscow University, where onlookers noted that “Vlad” was wearing what looked like “high heels”.
(Image: Simone Malik)
“I think that that is Putin. I don’t think that’s a body double,” she explained, looking at shots from the university visit.
“The reason being there’s a slant in Putin’s lips – If you look at Putin on the left side there’s a slight slant to his lip line.
“So the lip line dips a little compared to the right side.
“And then when you look at him from the side the lip almost protrudes – so people think ‘oh it’s fillers or botox gone wrong.’”
(Image: Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
She continued: “If you look at him from the left side the lip is slightly different, and if you look at him from the right side the ear is slightly different.
“I think sometimes when a person’s health isn’t good they look a bit bloated or their face is less taught.
“I think that’s normal with the ageing process.
“When I look at the skull, the forehead, the head shape at the back, it’s all consistent.”
She added: “You know, sometimes we all have that bad time or a bad day when we have a photograph when we look completely different.
(Image: Getty Images)
“I mean, that happens to each and every one of us. So, realistically, I looked at three features: the ear, the lip, the head shape, the forehead, and the eye area. And I think that this is Putin, and I don’t think it’s a body double.”
Adding more detail to her analysis, Simone added: “The left ear of Putin’s has got more of a rounded look. Whereas on the right-hand side of the head a more pointy look.”
Drilling down on fleshy bits around his eyebrows, she added: “Look at the side profile of Putin’s face so in the middle of the eyebrows, you have an area that fleshy so when he turns to the side there’s a bit of a fleshy bump that comes out slightly and that’s quite consistent in all the images of Putin… these things are consistently there in all of these images.”
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