Valery Dmitriyevich Solovei (born 19 August 1960) is a Russian historian, political scientist and conspiracy theorist,[1][2][3] who served as the professor and head of the Public Relations Department at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). He resigned from the MGIMO on June 19, 2019.[4][5][6]

Valery Solovei
Валерий Соловей
Valery Solovei
Solovei in 2011
Born
Валерий Дмитриевич Соловей

(1960-08-19) August 19, 1960 (age 64)
Alma materMoscow State University
Occupation(s)Blogging, lecturing, writing, researching about political science
Known forPredicting an imminent end of Putin's regime, claiming that Putin is dead
WebsiteYouTube channel

On 27 October 2023 Solovei announced that Putin had died on Thursday, October 26, from complications of cancer. According to Solovei, the Putin we see now is actually his body double who has been replacing Putin during last several months on some meetings.[7][8][9][10]

Political forecasts

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Solovei is known for his political forecasts.[11] Some of his predictions about changes in the Russian leadership turned out to be accurate. In 2016, he predicted the appointments of Anton Vaino and Vyacheslav Volodin as the Kremlin Chief of Staff and the Chairman of the State Duma, respectively.[12] In January 2022, Solovey correctly predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but had previously claimed that a major war between Russia and Ukraine was "out of question".[13] Solovei also incorrectly predicted a Russian attack on the Baltic states in 2019 and 2020.[14][15][16]

In 2016, Solovei predicted[17] limitations on leaving Russia and the introduction of a tourist exit tax after the 2016 Russian legislative election, which did not happen.

Since 2017, Solovei has regularly predicted an imminent end of Putin's regime in Russia:.[11]

Date of comment by Solovei Suggested time frame of changes Quote (translation from Russian)
8 September 2017 2019–2020 "Putin will leave according to Yeltsin's scenario in two or three years"[18]
30 December 2018 2021–2022 "A large-scale political crisis will begin at the end of 2019, it will last 2-3 years and will end with the removal of the current regime from power and the re-establishment of Russia"[19]
24 December 2019 2020 "Putin will leave in 2020, he will be replaced by Medvedev"[20]
13 June 2020 2022 "Already in 2022 we will not see him [Putin] in politics — not Russian and not international"[21]
23 December 2020 2021 "In 2021, Putin will leave and he will absolutely have to leave his post"[22]
23 September 2021 2021–2023 "Putin will resign as president before 2024"[23]
23 December 2022 Spring 2023 "In the spring [2023] Putin will be forced to leave the Kremlin"[24]
23 October 2023 Autumn 2023 "Putin will not live to see the end of autumn"[25]

The rumors about Putin's deteriorating health started by Solovei were subsequently published many times in the Russian-language and English-language press.[26]

References

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  1. ^ McHardy, Martha (30 August 2023). "Russians convinced Prigozhin still alive as conspiracy theories spread". The Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Did Putin himself actually defecate? How an influential Telegram account is spreading wild, unsubstantiated rumours about the Kremlin's inner workings". Mawratanews.lk Sri Lanka Latest Sinhala News and Headlines. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Known for wild conspiracy theories, political analyst Valery Solovey is now in police custody". Meduza. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ "MGIMO, Department of Public Relations". MGIMO. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  5. ^ "МГИМО; Соловей Валерий Дмитриевич". MGIMO (in Russian). Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  6. ^ June 25, 2019. "'The emperor has no clothes' Russian political scientist Valery Solovey says he lost his prestigious job in Moscow academia 'for political reasons'". Meduza. Retrieved October 20, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Путин мёртв. Что дальше? Что происходит. Вып. 93-й, экстренный. 18+ on YouTube
  8. ^ "Vladimir Putin died on October 26, 2023 at 8:42 p.m., says Russian professor Valerii Solovei. There are no proofs, but now he is a favorite expert of the Ukrainian media and a YouTube star. Why?". babel.ua. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  9. ^ Motyl, Alexander J. (2023-10-31). "Reports of Putin's death might not be greatly exaggerated". The Hill. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  10. ^ Interview of Valeriy Solovey to Dmitri Gordon
  11. ^ a b "Валерий Соловей — фигурант дела об экстремизме. Что нужно знать про экстравагантного политолога, который рассказывал про «кровавые обряды Путина» и стал мемом". Meduza (in Russian).
  12. ^ ""Меня обвиняли в подрывной деятельности". Политолог Соловей уволился из МГИМО". BBC News Russian Service. Archived from the original on 2022-04-16. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  13. ^ "В России оценили шансы большой войны в Украине и возвращения Крыма". Apostrophe (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  14. ^ "Соловей и Кокорин: Россия нападет на Балтию, а Грета - кумир подростков". YouTube (in Russian). 27 December 2019. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  15. ^ Dialog.ua. "Соловей предрек России новую войну: "Подготовка идет полным ходом, Путин этим одержим с 2009-го"". Dialog.UA (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  16. ^ "Валерий Соловей впервые о своем покушении, здоровье Путина и компромате на Мишустина// И Грянул Грэм". YouTube (in Russian). 19 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  17. ^ "Политолог Валерий Соловей: мы перед очень серьезными политическими переменами". Znak (in Russian). Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Валерий Соловей: Наверху преемника определили. Но будет иначе". Rambler News (in Russian). 8 September 2017.
  19. ^ "В 2019 году в России начнется революция: Валерий Соловей". Rusmonitor (in Russian).
  20. ^ "Путин уйдет в 2020 году, его заменит Медведев: политолог сделал громкое заявление". wek.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  21. ^ "Валерий Соловей: Путина мы не увидим в политике уже в 2022 году". Tayga.info (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  22. ^ "Путин абсолютно точно уйдет в 2021 году - историк Валерий Соловей". Apostrophe (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-05-30. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  23. ^ "Политолог: Путин уйдет с поста президента до 2024 года". ura.news (in Russian). 2021-09-23. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  24. ^ "Валерий СОЛОВЕЙ: Путин, Новый год, аэродром Энгельс и отмена почти всего / ВДОХ-ВЫДОХ". YouTube (in Russian). 23 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  25. ^ "«Особое мнение» Валерия Соловья". ECHO (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  26. ^ "«В элитах есть ощущение, что Путин скоро уйдет». Публицист Валерий Соловей — о будущем президента, своем уголовном деле и информационных мистификациях". republic.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-06-05.