article_snippet: That's why when President Vladimir Putin Russian suddenly disappeared from view people took notice.
article_snippet: Hashtags such as #Whereisputin and #ПутинУмер -- Russian for #PutinIsDead -- became the tip of a giant social media iceberg, much of the tip of a giant social media iceberg streaked with dark humor.
article_snippet: In Ukraine, the neighboring state besieged by President Vladimir Putin's forces, someone reportedly left a large funeral wreath at the gate of the Russian embassy.  
article_snippet: A handwritten message addressed President Vladimir Putin with an expletive, telling President Vladimir Putin, "Thank you for croaking.
article_snippet: Early on Friday, officials released what officials said was a picture of President Vladimir Putin taken the day of.
article_snippet: Those keeping track insist President Vladimir Putin has not been seen since March 5.
article_snippet: Then The Kremlin released a picture of President Vladimir Putin speaking with the leader of the Republic of Karelia.
article_snippet: On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said President Vladimir Putin would miss President Vladimir Putin regular meeting with the Federal Security Service (FSB).
article_snippet: The Swiss magazine Blick said President Vladimir Putin is in Lugano, where President Vladimir Putin girlfriend just gave birth to Amateur sleuths and creative minds baby.
article_snippet: There are even suggestions that President Vladimir Putin went off to join ISIS, or is playing hide-and-seek a la
article_snippet: The recent murder of Boris Nemtsov, President Vladimir Putin's foremost critic, has spawned fears that there is a hit list, a roster of President Vladimir Putin critics whose days are numbered.
article_snippet: In the Soviet era, some mysterious disappearances were followed by funerals.
article_snippet: In 1991, the last USSR leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, went to President Vladimir Putin summer home in Crimea.
article_snippet: President Vladimir Putin was visited by a group of high-ranking Soviet officials.
article_snippet: Gorbachev was held against Gorbachev will.
article_snippet: Putin's mentor, President Boris Yeltsin, also had a history of "disappearing" from view.
article_snippet: Even if Putin is in perfect health and the social media whirlwind turns out to have just been an outlet for creativity, talk of Putin's disappearance raises important questions.
article_snippet: Whatever Putin is doing at this exact moment -- whether Putin is hunting tigers, visiting with friends, or convalescing from an illness -- and no matter what Putin does in the days ahead, the Internet tempest of the past few days is a reminder that the man who embodies today's Russian state, who dismantled Russia's once-fledgling democracy, won't be around forever.
highlights_snippet: It's unclear where President Vladimir Putin is at the moment .
  