"Vladimir Vladimirovich, hello, I am a student at St Petersburg state university. I want to ask, is it true you have a lot of doubles?" the double asked. "And also: How do you view the dangers that artificial intelligence and neural networks bring into our lives?"
The question prompted a rare hesitation from Putin, already in his fourth hour of taking questions at the marathon event.
"I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice. But I have thought about it and decided that only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me," he said.
"That is my first double, by the way," Putin added as an afterthought.
There has been recurrent speculation, particularly in Western media, that Putin has one or more body doubles to cover for him in some public appearances because of alleged health problems. The Kremlin had denied that and said the president's health is excellent.
