Twitter suspends @DarthPutinKGB account mocking Vladimir Putin

A popular Twitter account impersonating Russian President Vladimir Putin has been suspended, the latest in a series of accounts spoofing Russia and its officials to be banned from the social media site.

The @DarthPutinKGB account, which had more than 50,000 followers, was no longer visible Tuesday afternoon, with a brief note explaining “This account has been suspended.”

The @SovietSergey account, poking fun at Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, was also suspended recently, Radio Free Europe reported.

Radio Free Europe published a collection of @DarthPutinKGB’s best tweets Tuesday, including: “Russia has cut defense spending. Attack spending remains unchanged,” “Leonardo DiCaprio isn’t good looking enough to play me,” and “Don’t believe anything the Kremlin doesn’t first deny.”

And Twitter users, including Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, panned the move and began their own best-of lists:

When asked to comment on the ban, Twitter sent a link to its conditions for parody accounts.

According to those conditions, the account’s biography “should indicate that the user is not affiliated with the account subject by stating a word such as ‘parody,’ ‘fake,’ ‘fan,’ or ‘commentary,’ and be done so in a way that would be understood by the intended audience.”

The bio on @DarthPutinKGB read: “146% of Russians didn’t elect me. You don’t visit Russia, I visit you. I serve tea to those that call this parody. Tweets made topless signed vvp.”