JRL NEWSWATCH: “Reports of Putin’s death might not be greatly exaggerated” – The Hill/ Alexander J. Motyl
“Is … Putin dead? … [M]ysterious Russian Telegram channel … ‘General SVR’ and [prominent Russian political analyst] Valery Solovey … [say] yes. … [Putin] supposedly breathed his last … Thursday, Oct. 26. The Putin we see now [allegedly would] … actually his double … [already] filling in for the sickly real Putin for several months. Few Russian or Western analysts believe General SVR and[/or] Solovey [who provided various allegedly related details] …. [I]f Solovey isn’t a madman or a puppet … [there are] two … possibilities. [If] a would-be opposition leader … Solovey may be determined to sow confusion in the ranks of Russian elites and among ordinary Russians … to question whether the man claiming to be Putin really is Putin … undermining his legitimacy[] [w]ith … presidential elections scheduled for March 2024 …. Putin[] spokesman … Peskov[] felt compelled to deny rumors of Putin’s death and the existence of Putin doubles …. [Another] possibility is that Solovey and General SVR [are] … agents of the security services or spokesmen for powerful elites able to provide Solovey … protection. The intended effect of the death claim would [still] be … doubt, confusion and delegitimation — but … the instigators … be[ing] establishment elites [would have] … worrisome implications for Putin and the political system. …”