Newsweek reported, citing a Ukrainian intelligence official, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has similarities on his behalf on certain occasions.
The magazine reported that the spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence agency, Andrei Yusov, made the remarks in an extensive interview last Thursday with the online newspaper "Ukraineska Pravda".
Amid rumours of the president's deteriorating health, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said Putin is using his likenesses. The Kremlin rejected the allegations.
"Putin uses paraphernalia, and this is a fact based on intelligence and the assessment of physiatrists and many other specialists.
Different behaviors
He cited an unannounced visit by Putin to the occupied territories of Ukraine last March, his first since he launched a full-scale war on the neighboring country in February 2022 and the southern region of Kherson last April.
"His visits to the occupied south are completely fake, poorly arranged and hasty. There was a big difference in Putin's behavior and appearance."
"He would never have sat in that car and would never have worn such clothes. He wouldn't have spoken to the so-called locals, because we know that access to the real Putin in the Kremlin is restricted even to his entourage, and there is that table that is getting longer, and the mandatory quarantine that people undergo before meeting him."
The magazine concluded with what the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Major General Kirilo Budanov, said in August 2022 about Putin's ears in a Ukrainian television program that they looked different in his public appearances on many occasions.
He said that his habits, appearance and even height changed. "Putin's lookalikes have different habits, different behavior, different feelings, and sometimes they have different lengths if you look closely."