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Geopolitics

Photo Of The Week: This Happened In Warsaw

Photo Of The Week: This Happened In Warsaw

Poland is a nation divided. On October, its constitutional tribunal ruled that terminating pregnancy due to fetal defects was unconstitutional, making abortion almost completely illegal in a country with strong influence of the Catholic Church and among Europe's most restrictive laws on this and other social issues.

The abortion ruling sparked massive protests across the country, led by a young generation of Polish citizens. What is most notable, perhaps, is that the demonstrations continue, including Dec. 13 when a general strike was organized to coincide with the 39th anniversary of the introduction of martial law in Poland during the Communist era.

ZUMA photographer Grzegorz Banaszak captured an image of one young protester, bracing in the early winter cold of Warsaw with a glance of quiet determination.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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