Kremlin rejected the lie, he said, that the 70-year-old president Vladimir Putin he has survivors to replace him and that he spends much of his time in isolation in a nuclear shelter.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listed the myths he said were spreading about Russia in a speech in which he referred to the country’s history since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the causes of the war in Ukraine, and the alleged betrayal of Western society.

“You have obviously heard that there are quite a few henchmen working for Putin while he is in a bunker,” Peskov said at a conference in Moscow, before adding with a smile: “Another lie.”

“You can see for yourself what our president looks like: he has always been and remains very active, those who work next to him can hardly keep up with him.”