We did see the 'real' Putin in a cell years ago- last anyone ever saw of him, and yet everyone believes the guy they have in there now is actually Putin. Cray-cra.

It used to be an easy to find vid (Putin in a cell) now it appears the Tube and web have decided to sanitize itself from it... go figure.

The REAL Putin was fluent in German and spoke it frequently- when was the last time you heard him use his East German chops?

Totally not the same guy:


This story use to be easy to find in English as well- [link to rusjev.net]

"Unfortunately, my husband has long been dead. I have to admit this publicly because I can no longer see what is happening on his behalf. These are scary people. They will stop at nothing. I am afraid that now they will kill me and daughters just as they killed him.

"...And then he completely disappeared. At night, some people came to our home - I knew one of them, I saw someone for the first time. We rummaged everything upside down, reviewed all the papers, all the walls in the house rattled. They told me only one thing: "If you want to live, be silent." All questions about her husband were briefly answered that he would come soon, that he had an important away meeting, and that in the interests of national security I should not discuss this with anyone. A few days later his first ... understudy appeared. Then I already learned that the murder of Vladimir was being prepared ahead of time, it was eliminated when the first double was almost ready to take its place. Outwardly, he certainly looked very much like Putin - I was amazed. But it was a completely different person."