Rumours that Russian President Vladimir Putin is dead is currently circulating online after the President failed to turn up for a meeting on Thursday in Kazakhstan.
According to Radio Free Europe, Putin has not been seen publicly since March 5th, 2015.
The words “Putin umer” which translates into “Putin has died,” is also trending on the internet in Russia.
Has Putin Died? No idea, but Twitter’s already buried him. RT @MrLatis #ПутинУмер? Не знаю, но твиттер его уже похоронил
— Hannah Thoburn (@HannahThoburn) March 12, 2015
Debka.com reports:
DEBKAfile reports that Russian websites Thursday morning began running unconfirmed reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had suddenly died. This has not been confirmed by any official in Moscow.
But a short announcement of Putin’s death was seen briefly on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s website early Thursday, only to be removed after 20 minutes.
According to officials in Moscow, Putin was expected in Kazakhstan Thursday for meetings with its leaders, but failed to turn up.
We will keep you updated with this story as it progresses.
Sean Adl-Tabatabai