Rumors a couple of potential alternative for Russian President Vladimir Putin have been sparked as a result of his actions through the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on Could 9.

Movies of Putin chatting with a person through the parade have begun circulating on social media with some speculating that this man would sooner or later substitute the Russian chief.

Ukrainian race automotive driver Igor Sushko shared the clip, which has over 45,000 views, on his Twitter web page. He claimed that the person Putin was chatting with was named Dmitry Kovalev.

"The younger man with whom Putin had a protracted and frank dialog on Crimson Sq. is the pinnacle of the presidential administration division Dmitry Kovalev," he tweeted.

Newsweek has not been capable of independently confirm if that is the true identification of the person. In his tweet, Sushko additionally stated that the identification was nonetheless unconfirmed presently.

"Rumors instantly started to swirl that he may very well be Putin's hand-picked successor," Sushko added.

Information-focused Telegram web page Baza, additionally made the declare that Putin is speaking to Kovalev and that he's a possible successor to the chief.

Vladimir Putin
A thriller man seen with Russian President Vladimir Putin through the Victory Day parade on Could 9 has sparked succession rumors. Pictured, Putin leaves Crimson Sq. after the Victory Day navy parade in central Moscow on Could 9, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev/Getty Photos

"'Baza' came upon the identification of a younger man who talked about one thing with Vladimir Putin after the top of the Victory Parade," the web page stated in a Telegram publish, in line with a translation by Google. "Through the reside broadcast, the digicam [caught] their dialog. Some Telegram channels advised that the younger man is a future successor."

The Telegram publish additionally shared different footage of the individual that spoke to Putin and gave particulars about Kovalev.

"Dmitry Kovalev is strolling subsequent to Putin, he's 36-years-old, and in line with [Baza], he's accountable for one of many departments of the Presidential Administration," the publish continued. "There are a whole lot of images from hockey on Kovalev's web page. It's potential that he met Putin on the widespread theme of affection for this sport."

Putin has publicly proven his love of hockey and on his 63rd birthday in 2015, he lead a hockey group of retired stars in opposition to a group of amateurs on the Olympic ice rink in Sochi.

Whereas Putin has not publicly introduced he shall be stepping down as Russian chief, there has remained fixed hypothesis about his well being.

A number of rumors have been unfold that he could have Parkinson's illness or most cancers, as a result of his habits throughout video-recorded engagements.

The Kremlin has denied such hypothesis, but it surely hasn't stopped observers from probing small particulars in movies of Putin holding conferences.

Nevertheless, it isn't solely Putin who has been topic to such scrutiny. For many years, political leaders in excessive workplace have been caught up in well being hypothesis for even slight particulars, corresponding to when Richard Nixon was seen sweating below studio lights throughout a TV debate with John F. Kennedy in 1960 or when Donald Trump sniffled throughout a debate between himself and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Newsweek has reached out to Russia's International Affairs Workplace for remark.