Russian authorities increasingly need to prove that Putin is still alive – Ukraine’s intelligence

He said this during a telethon.

He noted that Yanukovych also reminded Ukraine of his "legitimacy" and emphasized that even Russian patriots began to doubt whether Putin was alive.

"If we talk about the vivid analogy of a 'legitimate' one as in the case of Yanukovych, I think it is more appropriate for the so-called Vladimir Putin or a person like him. More and more often in Russia, the official authorities have to prove that Putin is alive, and more and more often even patriots are doubting this," Yusov said.

• The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, believes that the Russian president has many doubles and that it is definitely not him who has been attending official events for the past six months, but this is not important because there is a notion of 'collective Putin' in Russia.