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Vladimir Putin's "inner circle" are rumoured to have selected a successor following allegations the dictator's wellbeing is in decline.

Reports of the Russian despot's ailing health have come thick and fast in recent months with sources claiming he is suffering from advanced cancer or Parkinson's. One report even claims Putin's doctor reckons his death is only a matter of time.

According to the Telegram channel General SVR, the medic said the warmonger's demise was "imminent amid a sharp deterioration in his health," with his condition reportedly having gone from bad to worse in the past few weeks.

READ MORE: Russian defectors serving with Ukrainian Forces planning 'surprise' Moscow op for Putin

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The channel even claims Putin is using doppelgangers to hide his illness. Now General SVR has reported the dictator's closest allies in government have plotted to use the lookalikes to "continue the regime" after his death, reports Newsweek.

"There is a general understanding that for some time it has been possible to use a double of the president after the death or removal from power of the real Vladimir Putin," the channel said. "Almost all interested parties are ready to rally around a double who can be controlled; the only problem is who will control the double, and this requires mutual trust, which simply does not exist."

Putin's "inner circle" had reportedly tried to come to an agreement around the idea of the "continuation of the Putin regime after Putin," with General SVR suggesting Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev was being prepared to become leader.

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However, according to the Russian constitution, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin should be the one to temporarily take the reigns if Putin were to pop his clogs in office. The channel added that while the dictator preferred Mishustin as a potential successor, the notoriously egotistical leader wasn't keen to muse on his own impending demise and hadn't been clear about what he wanted to happen after his death.

"Putin himself refused to leave any instructions or covenants on what to do after him, preferring to withdraw into himself, and perhaps deciding that the chaos after him is the best legacy," it added. General SVR stopped short at giving any hard proof or citing the sources of its claims.

Putin recently turned 71, but was reportedly too weak to open his own presents, according to the channel. There has been speculation the birthday could be his last thanks to his poor health.

But Putin's disease might not finish him off in time if his critics have anything to do with it. Following his unpopular invasion of Ukraine, reports have claimed assassination plots are in the works and may take out the Russian leader before he kicks the bucket due to natural causes.

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• Vladimir Putin
• Russia
• Russia Ukraine war

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