Bizarre footage of Putin being called the wrong name has lead to speculation the Russian leader could be using doppelgängers and body doubles after a Kremlin official called the him ‘Pal Laich’
Vladimir Putin has been called the wrong name by a senior Russian official – fuelling speculation he uses body doubles. Deputy Premier Dmitry Patrushev, who knows Putin well, unexpectedly addressed the dictator by the unknown name “Pal Laich”
The despot smiled before the two men then commenced a meeting about the “sowing campaign” – the annual grain-planting operation by farmers across Russia’s 11 time zones. Patrushev, tipped as Putin’s eventual successor, said: “Pal Laich….thank you very much. Yes, I’ve prepared a presentation.”
The Kremlin later changed its version of the meeting to claim Patrushev addressed Putin, 73, in the correct way using his patronymic as: “Vladimir Vladimirovich.” However rumours and jokes quickly ignited that Patrushev had voiced the name of the body double rather than the real Putin.
The apparent censorship only added to the ridicule. A Telegram channel has insisted Putin had been replaced by multiple body doubles due to the mistake.
General SVR said: “Patrushev made a slip of the tongue, pronouncing the name and patronymic of the double unclearly, and there’s nothing terrible about it, especially since the double is generally called an extremely unflattering nickname in his close circle.”
It went on to allege Patrushev – the son of ex-spy chief Nikolai Patrushev, 74 – is now Putin’s “only seriously considered successor”. And it claimed Putin’s second eldest daughter Katerina Tikhonova, 39, is destined to lead the Russian parliament as speaker “in the fairly near future, although not this year”.
Bizarre channel General SVR claims Putin died in October 2023 and was permanently replaced by body doubles acting out the role of Russian dictator. More mockery swirled around Putin on his current trip to Kazakhstan when he mangled the name of his host President Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev.
For unclear reasons he addressed him as: “Dear Sarzhan Kemelyevich….”
The development comes after an episode at the Kremlin where Putin failed to correctly utter the Russian word for “Hurray” as he addressed “war heroes” in the Kremlin. The Russian told them to belt out three “Hurrahs” for the fighters on the frontline.
However the Putin blurted out: “Hurrah, Hrra, Huraaah.” Volodymyr Zelensky has ridiculed Putin’s slurred speech. The dictator’s former speech writer Abbas Gallyamov claimed the twisted words could be related to a suspected “mini-stroke” suffered by the Russian ruler.
Gallyamov stated: “He started having tremors — you know, his hand would shake, his leg would shake.
“This is one of the consequences of a stroke. And so even then, I thought, and I basically said, that perhaps he had a mini-stroke.”
Russian newspaper Kommersant said “no one can explain” why Patrushev used the wrong name for Putin. “Maybe he got overstressed,” said the outlet.
In 2023, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill – a close Putin ally – addressed the dictator wrongly as “much-esteemed Vladimir Vasilyevich”, before correcting himself.
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