MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had rejected an offer to use body doubles for personal protection during a conflict with Chechnya.

Speaking in an interview with the news agency Tass, another segment of which was released Thursday, Putin said the plan dated back to the early 2000s.

He said that it “came at the most difficult moment of fighting terrorism.”

In the early 2000s, Russia was fighting a war against separatists in Chechnya who also launched attacks elsewhere in the country. Putin visited troops in Chechnya hours after predecessor Boris Yeltsin stepped down on Dec. 31, 1999. Putin also made several other trips to Chechnya in the following years when fighting was still raging.

Putin didn't elaborate on his motives behind rejecting the proposal to have body doubles.

The 67-year-old former KGB agent who has ruled Russia for more than 20 years also reaffirmed that he has continued to shun a personal cellphone. He said that he feels “more comfortable" relying on protected communications means and may occasionally use an aide's phone.