Vladimir Putin Spokesman Denies Claims Russian Leader 'Died' and a 'Coup' is Taking Place in Moscow: 'Absurd Information Canard'
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied reports that the Russian leader “died” this week and that an “attempted coup” was taking place in Moscow, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a sudden development to come after a Russian Telegram channel claimed that the 71-year-old leader died "at his residence in Valdai" earlier this week, Peskov spoke out to suppress the rumors of Putin’s death.
According to a statement Peskov provided to the state media outlet RIA Novosti on Thursday, the rumors of Putin’s death at 71 were “absurd information canard.”
“These [stories] belong to the category of fake news, discussed with enviable tenacity by a number of media outlets,” Peskov said. “This brings nothing but a smile in the Kremlin.”
Meanwhile, the Russian Telegram channel General SVR stood by its report and claimed that an “attempted coup” was taking place inside the Kremlin following Putin’s alleged passing.
“Attention! There is currently an attempted coup in Russia!” the channel wrote on Wednesday. “Russian President Vladimir Putin died this evening at his residence in Valdai.”
“At 20.42 Moscow time, doctors stopped resuscitation and pronounced death,” General SVR added.
The channel also claimed that Putin’s doctors were “blocked in the room” with the Russian leader’s “corpse” because they were “being held by members of the presidential security service.”
“Now the doctors are blocked in the room with Putin's corpse, they are being held by members of the presidential security service on the personal orders of Dmitry Kochnev, who is in touch and receives instructions from the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev,” the Russian Telegram channel said.
“Security for the president's double has been beefed up,” General SVR continued. “Active negotiations are underway.”
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“Any attempt to pass off a double as the president after Putin's death is a coup.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the rumors of Putin’s death this week came shortly after General SVR also claimed that the Russian leader suffered a “horrific” heart attack in Moscow late Sunday night.
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Putin was allegedly left in “stable but serious condition” following the purported heart attack, and the Telegram channel said that the despot’s doctors were “not optimistic” about a potential recovery.
Putin was also reportedly left “plugged into machines.”
“The real Putin lies in a room equipped at an intensive care ward in his residence, connected to equipment that monitors his vital parameters,” General SVR said.
“After the cardiac arrest on Sunday evening, the attending doctors assess the condition of the Russian President as stable and serious and consider the prospects without optimism,” they added.
The Kremlin was said to be “scrambling” to organize a succession plan to prepare for Putin’s possible passing.
General SVR claimed that a “knightly round table” headed by Nikolai Patrushev and a Putin body double would take over leadership if the Russian tyrant did succumb to his rumored heart attack and die.