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Daily Star references a popular and notable set of conspiracy theories that Vladimir Putin died (presumably in 2014/2015) and who you see today is a body double.

As part of the evidence they cite supposed statements from Putin's ex-wife:

An article circulated online – reportedly originally published in a German newspaper in 2015 – features strange quotes attributed to Lyudmila Putin which seems to support the theory of the death of Vlad.

She is claimed to have said: "My husband, unfortunately, has long been dead."

“I have to admit it publicly, because I could no longer see what is happening on his behalf. It’s terrible people."

Has Vladimir Putin been dead since 2014 or 2015?

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    Is this falsifiable? It is ludicrous, yet there's no way to prove it – Oddthinking Jan 01 '17 at 23:46
  • @Oddthinking - at the very least, the quoted piece of the claim is falsifiable for sure. – user5341 Jan 02 '17 at 01:34
  • So the question is "Did Lyudmila Putin say ...?"? – Oddthinking Jan 02 '17 at 02:16
  • @Oddthinking - that depends on if you want to look at broader claim or narrower. I prefer broader as it's got more possible data points, but if you think it can't work, feel free to narrow down. – user5341 Jan 02 '17 at 04:04
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    It's tricky. Part of the trouble is that someone could confirm beyond doubt that Lyudmila Putin *did* say this or *didn't* say this, and it would have no impact on whether the wider claim was seen as true, by either side. – Oddthinking Jan 02 '17 at 10:09
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    I searched for interviews with Putin's ex-wife in German newspapers and for the quote. I was not able to find anything even close to it. Since Ljudmila Putina's German is perfect, she would have given the interview in German, and it would be easy to find when you look for German wording. Yet, there is no trace of it online. There is one article that discusses rumors about Putin's health in 2015, but there is no quote: https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article138329730/Putin-ist-von-der-Bildflaeche-verschwunden.html – daraos Jan 02 '17 at 13:31
  • @daraos - I would accept that as evidence, but i recall moderators frowning on Google Search as basis of answers. – user5341 Jan 02 '17 at 14:23
  • @user5341 I don't think it can be an answer. It is possible (although very unlikely) that there was an interview in a small German newspaper that has not been published online. I think this claim cannot be falsified, we just have to accept it as conspiracy theory. Maybe in 40 years historians find evidence that Putin was indeed long dead in 2015. – daraos Jan 02 '17 at 15:31

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