'I’m Stalin’s great-grandson – Putin is likely dead and body doubles been used for years'

Joseph Stalin’s great-grandson has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is dead and has been using body doubles for years.

Speaking to the Sun, Jacob Jugashvili, 51, who is still involved in Russian politics, claimed that Putin has been replaced by actors who are “being manipulated” by a group of people who took power.

He explained: “Putin has long disappeared, and instead of him, unknown and unelected persons who seized power in the Kremlin manipulate actors who do not look like Putin. To those who might accuse me of conspiracy: conspiracy is what the secret services of all countries are paid for. It’s their job.”

Since Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine started, there have regularly been rumours that Vladimir Putin is dead or is dying.

As recently as the start of this year, it was claimed that the authoritarian dictator used CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in his New Year’s message.

Speaking to the Express, Executive Director of Washington DC-based Wind of Change Research Group, Igor Sushko said: “The video was also clearly spliced together from multiple cuts.

“Whether CGI or not, the video is clearly raising uncomfortable questions about Putin domestically. Many Russians have accepted Putin uses doubles for public appearances.”

The latest rumours around whether Putin is dead or alive come as the Russian elections take place this weekend. Putin is expected to win with a “menu of manipulation” according to one expert.

Speaking to the Telegraph, associate professor of Russian studies at UCL, Ben Noble said: “The authorities use various items from their ‘menu of manipulation’ to secure the results they want.”

Among the tools used by the Kremlin to guarantee victory are result fixing, voter fixing, and candidate fixing. The fourth method involves only allowing candidates to run which have been approved by the Kremlin.

Another new method being used by the Kremlin during this year is allegedly putting the names of dead soldiers on ballots. In a post on the social network Telegram, Ukrainian Defence Intelligence claimed that “’election commissions’ will try to increase the number of Putin’s voters by attracting the so-called ‘dead souls’ to the ‘voting’.”