Questions have emerged on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin really attended an Orthodox Easter service in Moscow this past weekend after pictures issued by the Kremlin bore a startling resemblance to images from last year.
The images, purportedly taken one year apart, appear to show Putin dressed in the same suit and look extremely similar – the only clearly discernible difference being the colour of his tie.
Putin is believed to have attended the midnight Easter service to mark Orthodox Easter on Sunday morning – April 24 – alongside Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin at Moscow’s huge gold-encrusted Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
But images and video footage of the event have been seized upon by opposition media in Russia and Ukraine, suggesting the new clips were faked from last year’s service on May 2, 2021.
It comes after footage last week appeared to show Putin bloated and slouching at a meeting with the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who also seemed fragile and appeared to slur his words as he read a short statement to the President.
The footage sparked rumours Putin is suffering considerable health problems, while Shoigu, who was largely sidelined after being a mainstay in the early days of the war in Ukraine, was thought to have endured a heart attack.
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