The Kremlin on Tuesday denied reports that President Vladimir Putin was ill and dismissed persistent rumors that he may have used body doubles to stand in for him during public appearances.

“He is fine, this is another piece of false information,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the telegram’s report that the president had serious health problems late Sunday.

Laughing off the question, the spokesman denied that Vladimir Putin used lookalikes.

“It belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes, which a whole range of media outlets put forward with enviable persistence. It just causes a smile,” said Dmitry Peskov.

Vladimir Putin is passionate about judo and has long cultivated the image of a “man of action”. On October 7, he celebrated his 71st birthday. The president maintains a busy schedule of meetings and public appearances, often televised.

He made a recent visit to China last week, stopping in two Russian cities on the way back.

In a 2020 interview, Vladimir Putin denied long-standing rumors that he used similar images, although he said he had been asked to do so in the past for security reasons.

(Reporting by Reuters French version by Nathan Vifflin Editing by Kate Entringer)