Vladimir Putin suffered a late-night health scare over the weekend, according to a Telegram channel which claims to monitor the Russian leader's health. 

The 69-year-old suffered from 'severe nausea' overnight Friday into Saturday with doctors rushed to his bedside for around three hours, General SVR channel said.  

Putin has now recovered, it claimed, but may be replaced by a body double during meetings this week or use 'deep fake' technology to stage television appearances.

It comes just days after Ukraine's spy chief suggested that Putin had been replaced by a decoy during a state visit to Iran.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, raised suspicions after reviewing footage of the Russian leader getting off a plane in Tehran Tuesday.

'Please look at the moment of Putin's exit from the plane. Is it Putin at all?' he said on Ukrainian television.

General SVR has previously claimed that Putin is being secretly treated for cancer and that top adviser Nikolai Patrushev regularly steps in for him during surgeries.

None of the channel's claims have been verified, but Putin would not be the first Russian leader to use a decoy if it can be proved.

Josef Stalin is said to have used multiple body-doubles while leader of the Soviet Union, two of whom have since come forward to speak about the experience.

One, known only as 'Rashid', claimed he was one of several men employed by the KGB to fill in for Stalin during public appearances where he was afraid of being assassinated, or to give the public the impression he was healthy when he was ill.

Felix Dadaev then came forward in 2008 to claim he was another of those doubles, saying Putin's regime had granted him permission to tell his story via state media.