Editor’s note: Twitter now says the account was fake.
See NCRM’s update: 1 MILLION FOLLOWERS. ACTIVE FOR 6 YEARS. TWITTER FINALLY SUSPENDS FAKE VLADIMIR PUTIN ACCOUNT EXPERTS THOUGHT WAS REAL.
It appears that Twitter has suspended the English language version of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s account. Political and social analyst Leah McElrath noted the suspension on Twitter, and credited freelance investigative journalist Olga Lautman, a Russia and Ukraine expert, for discovering the suspension. A Twitter search shows some had noticed the suspension as early as Monday.
It is not known why the account was apparently suspended.
Some have noticed that the account, which is not currently accessible, was not verified by Twitter. Neither is Putin’s Russian language account.
A March Business Insider article about Putin’s Twitter account links to the same one that now shows as suspended. And a 2014 Business Insider report detailing a notable Putin tweet also links to what is now the suspended account.
The Google cache of the account shows the account has one million followers, has been active since November 2012, and the last tweet was on November 13.
Developing…
Image, top, screenshot via Google cache