Not a fan of conspiracies but this one I think I believe.

I've read many biographies of Putin and how he came to power. Most underestimated him

Or did they?

All his biographers describe a pretty good spy (not exceptional) rising to run various government departments as a sort of middle manager, reasonably corrupt as most are before being selected by Boris Yeltsin's backers as Prime Minister.

The PM role in Russia is pretty symbolic with the President being all powerful; (or his backers are)

They perceived their "safe bet" Putin would not rock the boat and he didn't.

This has always bothered me:

The current Russian President called Vladimir Putin has had an obvious nose job. (don't ask me- I know these things)

BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE TO !!!!

All early photos of Putin- he already has a "ski-run" nose (much like my gorgeous one).

Why would Putin have a nose job when he didn't need to??

Just ask all those Jewish ladies in New York that have nose jobs. As you get older your face "thickens" (as Putin's has) ..your entire face thickens including your nose.

Don't believe me..ask you local Plastic Surgeon.

Putin's face has "thickened" but not his nose. This is what happens when you have had a nose job as 1000 aging Hollywood movie stars have found ( but not Hedda who was endlessly accused over the eons of having one because of my gorgeous honk but it's remained in proportion to the rest of me)

look at the proof below !! (It's Vladimir, not me.. or is it Vlad?)

I've thought for a while that there's something odd and mask-like about his face. Plastic surgery? Botox?

Jo wrote:
I've thought for a while that there's something odd and mask-like about his face. Plastic surgery? Botox?

he has a very typical 'Tartar' face hence the smallish nose and not very prominent cheek bones. Similar to Rudolph Nureyev.

But the older Vlad's face hasn't developed like it should..possibly botox.

I think the Oligarchs found a compliant doppelganger and put him in place.

The nose pics look consistent/same to me..But maybe I am too naieve to get the geo-political/post cold war realities on offer here via Putin's honk....

Funny enough...2 separate replies to your posts have not been posted...again...my Putin jokes...and mention of how my name is spelt must have an interesting effect on either the mods...or the spam filter etc...but others at the same time a and place did make it....

...oh well a few more hours then I'm in Aussie....

Jo wrote:
I've thought for a while that there's something odd and mask-like about his face. Plastic surgery? Botox?

Quite a few leaders have got that creepy mask face, come to think of it.

Silent Minority wrote:
Funny enough...2 separate replies to your posts have not been posted...again...my Putin jokes...and mention of how my name is spelt must have an interesting effect on either the mods...or the spam filter etc...but others at the same time a and place did make it....

...oh well a few more hours then I'm in Aussie....

What was it you were saying about your name, SM?

Sorry Hedda but I think you are entering the arena of the unwell with this one!

hedda wrote:
Jo wrote:
I've thought for a while that there's something odd and mask-like about his face. Plastic surgery? Botox?

he has a very typical 'Tartar' face hence the smallish nose and not very prominent cheek bones. Similar to Rudolph Nureyev.

But the older Vlad's face hasn't developed like it should..possibly botox.

I think the Oligarchs found a compliant doppelganger and put him in place.
It looks to me like the same person, just aged and possibly botoxed or whatever.

Has Putin had plastic surgery? Top cosmetic surgeon reveals exactly which procedures the Russian hard man had to help shed his geeky image

wyot wrote:
The nose pics look consistent/same to me..But maybe I am too naieve to get the geo-political/post cold war realities on offer here via Putin's honk....

well yes that's my whole point.

The nose looks exactly the same but his face has thickened ... as normal, with age.

But the nose has remained the same !!!

Why??

It's a classic sign of a nose job.

California plastic surgeons tear their hair out trying to convince aspiring starlets not to have those really tiny noses because they know how a person's face will age.

## look at all the old & new photos of Marilyn Monroe and you see a brilliant nose job in the early days when surgery was rare.

Putin's face has got thick and his nose remained exactly as it looks when he was young (if you think the early photo is a different man)

It shouldn't be like that.

The man we now see as Vlad Putin has had a very obvious nose job.

But looking at his early photos he never needed a nose job.

Example: compare pics of Ronald Biggs before and after plastic surgery. The same thing happened..his face aged as it should but his nose stayed the same.

If he's had fillers injected into his face, maybe that's why his nose looks comparatively smaller.

Interesting you say he has a typical Tartar face. Do you think Helen Mirren (nee Mironoff) would fall into that category too? Her nose seems to be another ski-jump model.