Putin’s Midnight Rush to the Kremlin Sparks Wave of Conspiracy Theories

A late-night journey by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin on Wednesday has sparked a wave of conspiracy theories.

Among the many unsubstantiated claims spread on Twitter was that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suffered a coronary heart assault after assembly with a Russian official and that he was critically sick within the hospital.

Twitter customers, together with Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of inner affairs, shared a 5-second clip that allegedly exhibits the Russian president being rushed to the Kremlin in Moscow.

“Putin rushed to the Kremlin round 10 minutes in the past. Hearsay has it it is associated to Erdogan’s well being; I doubt that although,” tweeted Twitter account Battle Mapper, which supplies every day map updates of the Ukraine conflict.

Turkey’s authorities shortly rejected the claims as “baseless” on Twitter.

On Tuesday, Erdogan fell sick throughout a stay tv interview. The next day he mentioned that he would take a while off to “relaxation at residence beneath the recommendation of our medical doctors,” and canceled his public appearances on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Turkish president had been because of make an in-person deal with on Thursday to inaugurate Turkey’s first nuclear energy station in Mersin, on its southern coast, which was constructed by Russia’s state nuclear power firm Rosatom.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters on Thursday that Erdogan and Putin will likely be collaborating nearly. He additionally mentioned that Russia wasn’t conscious of Erdogan’s reported well being points.

“We all know nothing about these ‘issues,'” he mentioned at a information briefing.

Newsweek reached out to Russia’s Overseas Ministry through electronic mail for remark.

Russia’s state-run information company Tass reported that the pair held phone conversations on Thursday. Some speculated that Putin’s obvious rush to the Kremlin indicated one thing “uncommon.”

“The rationale for the pressing arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin can also be carefully adopted by the Russian media. Uncommon issues are taking place,” one Twitter person wrote.

“Russian media report that a number of minutes in the past Putin unexpectedly rushed to the Kremlin,” Gerashchenko tweeted. “What may have occurred?

Responding to the allegations, Peskov informed reporters that Putin arrived on the Kremlin late at evening as a result of he had conferences scheduled “fairly early” on Thursday.

“Putin has an condominium within the Kremlin, the place he spends the evening very often. He labored yesterday in Ogaryovo and, having completed all his work in Ogaryovo as a result of at this time he had conferences within the Kremlin fairly early, he arrived within the Kremlin,” Peskov mentioned.

It’s “widespread follow” and “occurs fairly often,” he added.

On the finish of March, Putin mentioned in an interview on the state-run Russia 24 channel that he usually spends the evening in an condominium within the Kremlin.

“I’ve an condominium right here that I have been spending a variety of time in recently and I work right here and sleep fairly often,” he mentioned.

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