January 25, local time, is Russia's "Saint Tatyana Day", which is the country's unique "Russian Student Day". To celebrate this important day, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the "Moscow State Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov University" (Moscow University).
The visit was accompanied by the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, and the rector of Moscow University, Viktor Sadovnich (spectacles).
When the 70-year-old Putin took a photo with college students, a detail was captured by British newspapers, and the 5-foot-7-inch (about 1.70 meters) "tough guy president" wore a pair of leather shoes with some high heels.
In fact, there is nothing to fuss about, the heel looks only 2 or 3 cm, although it is higher than the heel of most men's leather shoes, it is not very exaggerated.
But in the eyes of the British media, which likes to "see the big with the small", this is a detail worth delving into, and what is even more interesting is that two British newspapers have reported on this matter, but they give different points of view...
The Daily Mail believes that Putin is maintaining his "masculinity".
"Putin has always created his masculine image, including riding shirtless, driving tanks, etc.", "which is why his bodyguards will always be shorter than him, giving the impression that Putin is tall."
The newspaper also quoted The Economist as saying that "in politics, height matters" and that "on average, tall politicians outperform their competitors in polls".
However, I have to say that in today's European politics, the view of "tall people dominate" is no longer tenable, British Prime Minister Sunak (about 1.67 meters), French President Macron (about 1.7 meters), German Chancellor Scholz (about 1.65 meters), Ukrainian President Zelensky (about 1.67 meters), etc., are not very tall advantageous.
The Sun, on the other hand, believes that Putin, who wears "high heels", is not himself, but a stand-in.
The newspaper quoted "information obtained from Kremlin insiders" as saying that the man in the photo was actually Putin's "stand-in." The so-called "obvious difference" is that Putin, who visited Moscow University, looks very energetic, while in the video the day before, Putin is sullen and hides his right hand.
In addition, the newspaper cited analysis on local Russian social media, saying that some details that are not easy to notice can also show that this is not the real Putin. For example, "the left cheekbone of the stand-in is swollen, and the facial expression moves unnaturally", "the unnatural sagging upper lip is the result of the failure of the double's plastic surgery, and too much botulinum toxin is injected", "the style of laughter is different from the real body"...
In short, if you do not believe that this is Putin himself, then you will find out the difference between "hundreds and thousands".
In fact, not only the British media, but also the head of Ucra's military intelligence department has previously claimed that Putin has at least three stand-ins. Major General Girilo Budanov, who is now the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said that every stand-in of Putin underwent cosmetic surgery in order to look more like him.
In the past year, Putin has been repeatedly accused of using stand-ins, the most "obvious" of which occurred in July, when Putin traveled to Iran for the Tehran summit. Because he looked "unusually energetic" when he got off the plane, he even "bounced" on the red carpet, and was considered "fake". "He walks faster than usual, is more energetic, and more alert to the camera."
As for why Putin used a stand-in, Britain and Ukraine gave almost the same answer, that is, the real Putin is not in good health, "suffering from pancreatic cancer and early Parkinson's disease." And whether this is true or not also remains to be considered.