Vladimir Putin Hasn’t Died, Suggests Russian Gov’t, and Shows Photos of Him in Meeting

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been run through the online rumor mill, with some saying he’s dead, had a stroke, merely ill, or is trying to battle an internal power struggle. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been run through the online rumor mill, with some social media users claiming he longtime Russian leader is dead, had a stroke, merely ill, or is trying to battle a power struggle.

Putin hasn’t been seen in public for more than a week, although on Friday, the Kremlin published somewhat-dubious photos of the Russian leader meeting with the President of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev. As ABC and other media outlets have noted, there is no way to “independently verify [if] the meeting occurred today” or when the photos were published.

Vladimir Putin and Supreme Court head Vyacheslav Lebedev (From eng.kremlin.ru)