Vladimir Putin

It constituted “a major diversion of Western attention and resources from Russia’s war on Ukraine that Putin surely welcomes,” Joseph Bosco, the former official wrote in an opinion piece in The Hill titled “Hamas’s Oct. 7 birthday gift to Putin”. He went on to warn lawmakers to pay “heed”.

The announcement came during a ceremony held at the Kremlin, where Putin conferred Hero of Russia medals upon servicemen involved in the recent military operation against Ukraine, as reported by RT.

Putin highlighted the current global state of flux, acknowledging a significant shift toward a fairer multipolar world order as a fundamental trend.

Set by law for mid-March, these elections come after a constitutional amendment in 2020, allowing Putin to contest in 2024 and possibly 2030 despite term limits.

The statement comes in response to remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Seoul on Friday.

The rumors gained momentum when General SVR, a Telegram channel believed to be linked to a Kremlin insider, asserted that Putin had succumbed to a heart attack, further claiming that body doubles had been strategically employed.

Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov derided such allegations as "amusing," as reported by RT.

However, Putin cautioned that the West may resort to more aggressive measures as the potential for further sanctions is depleted.

"Those, who are behind the conflict in the Middle East and other regional crises will exploit their devastating consequences to sow hatred, and sow dissent among people worldwide," said the Russian leader at a meeting with top security and law enforcement officials on Monday.

"No. There are no body doubles… This belongs to the category of absurd information hogwash, which is discussed with enviable persistence by a number of media outlets," Peskov told media persons here, RT reported.