Where is Vladimir Putin? This is the question that has stirred a hornet’s nest in Russia and sparked a flurry of speculations on social media with rumours ranging from him being unwell, ousted in a coup or having travelled to Switzerland to him being dead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public since March 5 and Moscow is abuzz with rumours galore with some even saying that Putin is dead as tweets with hashtag #ПутинУмер (translates to #putindied) were doing the rounds on Twitter.
One of the speculations suggests that the Russian leader may have been overthrown in a coup staged by shoddy security service agents, the Daily Mail reported citing the remarks of Geydar Dzhemal, claimed chairman of the pro-Kremlin national Islamic Committee.
Accusing former Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Nikolai Patrushev of being the mastermind of the plot, Dzhemal said that Putin has been “neutralised” but is still alive.
‘I think that Putin is neutralised at the moment, but of course, he is alive,’ said Dzhemal according to the Daily Mail.
‘He is under the control of the power-wielding agencies, who have, in my opinion, organised a coup d’etat, “he added.
Putin’s security Chief Mr Zolotov too is missing and there were reports that he may have been killed.
Possible coup d’etat in #Russia General Zolotov #Putin’s security chief allegedly killed. #putindead #путинумер https://t.co/HEDjpZsU0A
— Liubomir Topaloff (@LuboTop) March 15, 2015
Also, a former adviser to Putin has suggested the same in his blog. Andrei Illarionov, Putin’s former advisor wrote in his blog post that Putin had fled the country after being overthrown in a coup.
However, according to another theory, Putin might have taken leave to go to Switzerland to see his girlfriend give birth to his child.
Putin’s alleged girlfriend – Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva – had reportedly given birth to a baby girl in Switzerland; however, the Kremlin denied the reports.
