Andriy Yusov, the spokesman of the Ukrainian intelligence service GUR, said that the next step of the Russian authorities in the investigation related to the rumor “Putin he is dead”, could be a punishment for those who showed joy, even enthusiasm, at the alleged demise of their leader.
Rumor of death
What exactly was the fake message about? Many of them wrote that Putin died of a heart attack and that his inner circle plans to replace him with his doppelganger. The rumor was also shared by the General SVR account, which has long been interested in rumors related to Putin’s health and often refers to its sources directly in the Kremlin. This time, the people behind the General SVR account said that the Russian president had died on October 26 at his residence in Valday and that a coup was about to take place in Russia.
More speculation followed, one more conspiratorial than the other, some more reminiscent of a patch for the 2017 satirical film We Lost Putin. It was even written that the doctors locked themselves in the room with Putin’s body and did not want to let anyone in the room. And so even the Kremlin itself had to react to the rumours, which quickly came up with a statement that it was a complete hoax, and since then Putin has appeared in public several times.
According to the Russian investigative website Agenstvo, the terms “dead Putin”, “dying Putin” or “Putin died” appeared 417 thousand times in the Russian search engine Yandex in the last month, especially between October 23 and 29, when the speculation she spread on Telegram.
Tracking emoticons and likes
According to the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, Yusov said that the Russian secret services took pictures of the reactions. “They practically took print screens of all the comments on the posts that shared the rumor. They tracked who gave what likes and the like. So it’s likely they’ll be coming soon for those who responded with a laughing or celebrating smiley,” Jusov believes.
“We have to understand that this is a Russian story, a Russian campaign fully focused on Russia and Russian society,Jusov repeated. He described the whole matter as a test that Russian propaganda presented to ordinary citizens and elites. At the same time, speculations about “how it will turn out” also started on Telegram. Account General SVR talked about the fact that the head of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev will prepare everything so that Putin’s double can be installed and used.
Speculation about Putin’s health is a closely watched topic, especially after Putin gave the order to invade Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin constantly repeats that their president is doing well, but precisely on
Russian President Vladimir Putin | Reuters
elegram is said to be seriously ill – cancer or Parkinson’s disease are most often mentioned. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, added that the death rumor is part of Putin’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Danilov: Putin’s death would not change anything
Yusov commented that the true news of Putin’s death would be good news for Ukraine, Danilov disagrees. According to him, Putin’s death would not bring change. “If anyone thinks that (pos. red. Putin’s death) everything ends, then we don’t think so. The territory that is modern Russia is saturated with inhumanity, and it is far from just Putin.” he declared.
The Czech Republic and Austria share full solidarity with Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia and Israel after attacks by Palestinian radicals from Hamas, and they also share an opinion on the right of both countries to self-defense. Alexander Schallenberg, the head of Austrian diplomacy, said this at today’s press conference after a meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský in Vienna. According to Lipavsky, the world is in a global confrontation and it is necessary to share values, support the international order based on rules and support Ukraine and Israel.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization intends to suspend the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), which is considered a key element of the European security arrangement negotiated at the end of the Cold War. The announcement responds to the actions of Russia, which has not followed the treaty for years and finally withdrew from it last night. NATO condemned Moscow’s actions in a statement.
Russian imperialist ambitions threaten our independence and sovereignty, it is obvious even with regard to historical experience. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said this in a speech at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy today, where he presented the basic message of the security strategy adopted by the Czech government this year.
The document is an update of the eight-year-old strategy. Among other things, it states that Russia is deliberately working against political, economic and social stability in the Czech Republic and is a threat to security. According to the material, China is questioning the international order, which brings negative consequences for Euro-Atlantic security as well.
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