Did Putin use a body double during his recent trip to China?

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent trip to China has reignited speculation that the world leader likes to use a body double in public, and some of the arguments have been quite convincing. So did Putin use a body double? 

Putin was invited by President Xi Jinping to join China’s third Belt and Road forum in the country’s capital and the Russian leader was met at Beijing Capital International Airport with all ceremony that befit a leader of his status. 

The Russian President was greeted by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and a group of government officials who stood waiting nearby on a red carpet that had been laid out for Putin upon his arrival in the capital city.

However, the 71-year-old Russian leader wasn’t looking or acting like himself according to Newsweek, which wrote that Putin’s mannerisms led to questions about whether the man who had stepped off the plane was Putin. 

It is impossible to know whether or not Putin employed a body double during his trip to China but international political consultant Jason Jay Smart provided the world with his insight online, noting that Putin was a double. 

Smart pointed out that the Russian leader's fear of COVID coupled with the theory that Putin was traveling to China in order to ask for assistance led him to the conclusion the leader who left the plane was Putin’s body double. 

Ukrainian officials have long claimed that Putin uses body doubles based on intelligence gathered by the country’s security service that has been analyzed by specialists as well as physiognomists according to Ukrainska Pravda.

In June, Ukrainian Defence Intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov explained that many of Putin’s visits to the occupied south were faked. “There was a considerable difference both in ‘Putin’s’ behavior and his looks,” Yusov told Ukrainska Pravda. 

“He would never sit in that car and would never dress like that,” Yusov continued. “He would never talk to alleged local residents, as we know that access to the real Putin in the Kremlin is restricted even for his own entourage.”

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov has also gone on record saying that Putin uses a tram of body doubles, three of which he noted had gotten plastic surgery to look more like the Russian leader. 

"We know specifically about three people that keep appearing, but how many there are, we don't know," Budanov told Daily Mail in October 2022. "They all had plastic surgery to look alike,” Budnov added, giving away a few secrets on how to spot Putin’s doubles. 

"The one thing that gives them away is their height. It's visible in videos and pictures. Also gesturing, body language, and earlobes, since they are unique for every person," Budanov explained. 

Putin has previously dismissed claims that he uses a body double. In February 2020 he told The Russian News Agency (TASS) reporters that he was offered the opportunity to have a body double during the second Chechen war, but refused. 

"I refused to have doubles. It was during the most difficult time of the fight against terrorism," Putin said, without giving any other details according to a translation of his comments at the time from Radio Free Europe. 

Newsweek was unable to substantiate the claims that Putin used a body double during his time in China but Jason Jay Smart wrote in an email to the news organization that it was likely Putin did send a double to fill in for him in Beijing.

Smart wrote in his email that Putin's "distinctive gait, normally, is hard to miss: However, today it was not visible. Rather, Putin is seen walking about as if he was a normal person."

“The Russian president is known to often walk with a stiff leg, another factor that has fueled questions about his health in the past,” Smart added, reasoning that Putin was “hyper-cautious about interacting with others.”