Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that he was offered to use doppelgängers for public appearances for security reasons, but said he refused the offer.
Putin, 67, who has dominated Russian politics for more than two decades, has long been the subject of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories in Russia that he often uses doubles and has a veritable small army of doubles.
One of the more thorough theories compares photos of Putin over the years and claims that individuals who have posed as him on various occasions have been identified.
However, in an interview with the TASS agency that was broadcast yesterday, Putin was shown a list of popular Internet searches associated with his name, one of the headlines of which was "Evidence of Putin's Doppelganger."
When asked by a reporter "is this really you now", Putin replied in the affirmative before denying that he uses doppelgangers in public for security reasons.
However, he said that it was offered to him. “I turned down the doubles. I had such an offer during the most difficult period of the fight against terrorism," Putin said, adding that he meant the beginning of the 2000s.
At the beginning of Putin's first term, Russia was waging a war in Chechnya and was often targeted by Islamist extremist groups.
Putin also said in the interview that he does not use a mobile phone. He said he had access to a special phone that could connect to any number.
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