The Kremlin is spreading rumors that President Vladimir Putin has died to test his popularity and strengthen his grip on Russia, according to Ukraine.
Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said that bombshell reports about Putin’s death made last week by the popular Telegram channel General SVR – said to be run by a former Russian intelligence officer – were all Russian hoaxes.
Although the death of the 71-year-old president will bring “good news” for the people of Ukraine, it is really “an inside story that he aims to [the] domestic Russian audience,” Yusov told Ukrainian outlet Radio NV.
“The basic purpose of fake news is to see how society reacts in terms of numbers and dynamics, to see the reactions of individuals, elites and the media,” he claimed.
“In this way, the empire, built on the work of the secret service, learns how to continue to rule,” he said.
Despite rumors of his death, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared very much alive Thursday when he met with Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in Moscow.AP
General SVR reported on October 27 that the Russian destroyer chief had died in his forest castle in Valdai, about 250 miles from Moscow, and that his body was being stored in a food freezer.
Following Putin’s alleged death, two bodies have replaced him, with shadowy Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev pulling the strings behind the scenes, he claims.
Although the report from an unsourced Telegram channel has not been confirmed, it generated enough attention that the Kremlin was forced to issue an extraordinary denial.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the death rumors as “false absurd information” – just days after dismissing earlier reports from the same source that the president had suffered a heart attack but was revived.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the death rumors as “false absurd information” – just days after dismissing earlier reports from the same source that the president had suffered a heart attack but was revived. Getty Images
Putin has been seen at a number of public events and meetings since the president’s rumored death, most recently Thursday – but the Telegram channel has vehemently insisted it was a hoax.
General SVR has repeatedly claimed, without providing any evidence, that Putin has been battling cancer and Parkinson’s disease — but disinformation researchers warn that the account lacks credibility.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
