Kremlin-controlled TV informed millions of Russians about a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev. Nothing unusual about that, right?

Wrong.

The meeting between the two leaders of the former Soviet republics isn’t due to take place until Monday. But that didn’t stop the newsreader on the Rossiya 24 channel reading out the following item – all in the past tense.

“The Kremlin also reports that Vladimir Putin met with Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev on Monday. They talked about cooperation in investment and humanitarian spheres, as well as the energy sector. They also discussed the possibility of Kyrgyzstan joining the Eurasian Economic Union.”

Before we get to Monday, as most of you are undoubtedly aware, we have to get past the weekend first. A spokesperson for Rossiya 24 quickly announced the news item had been a mistake. And, on a normal day, that would have been that.

But these are not normal times in Russia. Putin hasn’t been seen in public for over a week. This prolonged absence has sparked rumors that Russia’s long-serving national leader is ill. Or has been deposed in a coup. Or is dead. Or is visiting his alleged lover, the “extremely flexible gymnast,” Alina Kabaeva, who reportedly gave birth to a baby Putin in Switzerland today. Take your pick.

Putin greets Russian gymnasts Alina Kabayeva during a meeting with candidates to the Russian Olympic team for Summer Olympics 2004 at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, March 10, 2004. Reuters

Rossiya 24’s inadvertent act of fortune-telling has already been labeled “Guests from the Future” on social media, a reference to a well-loved Soviet children’s film. But beneath the laughter, there is concern that Russia could be on the edge of another one of the cataclysmic events that seem to swing around these parts every few years.

Was Rossiya 24’s report on Putin’s meeting prepared in advance, because the Kremlin knew he would not be attending? Was it part of a cover up that was inadvertently aired ahead of time? Either way, it’s added to a general atmosphere of confusion and apprehension in Russia right now. “I was dreaming of Putin all night,” a friend in Moscow told me. “I dreamed he’d been kidnapped and was being marched off somewhere.”

True, the NTV channel aired images Friday of Putin meeting with supreme court president Vyacheslav Lebedev at his Novo-Ogaryovo presidential residence outside Moscow. But as there was no proof the footage was actually filmed Friday, that did little to stop the rumors. After all, the Kremlin has already been caught out once before this week, when it tried to pass off old photographs as new ones as evidence of Putin’s activities.

So when a line of mysterious trucks was photographed outside the Kremlin’s walls Friday evening, and seating for hundreds of people was laid out on Red Square, the rumor mill went into overdrive again. Someone quickly spliced together footage of Putin saying “and snuffed it,” over a grimy hip-hop beat, and uploaded the clip to YouTube.

“Has he really snuffed it?” asked one Facebook user. But the trucks and seating, it turned out, are for a concert to celebrate the first anniversary of the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea. “What are you all on about?” asked another Facebook user. “Putin’s fine, don’t you know? He’s already met the president of Kyrgyzstan on Monday.”

Will Putin finally show on Monday? Or will the mystery deepen? All will be revealed after the weekend. That is, of course, if there are no twists in this story before then. Keep watching Russia.