Baths in blood from the antlers of a Siberian fallow deer. Feces collected by faithful servants to avoid any possibility of analysis. Mysterious absences for medical treatment.
Rumors about the health of Vladimir Putin, who turned 70 in October, are sordid, grim and unverifiable.
But they illustrate what little, if not no, information is available about the Russian president’s health, a crucial element as he wages a bloody war in Ukraine whose outcome will shape the future of Europe.
During his two-decade reign, almost nothing has leaked out about his real health status, apart from a display of radiant masculinity and shape. Putin on horseback, Putin fishing shirtless, Putin in judoka…
But as the Russian president ages and his physique has changed over the years – his face looks swollen, his movements seem strained at times – speculation begins again.
1. What are the health claims?
The most thorough investigation into Putin’s health was published in April by the Russian-language website Proekt, based on open sources and concluding that the president’s trips to his dacha in Sochi on the Black Sea coast in recent years have coincided with the Movement of an armada of doctors.
Among them was the specialist in thyroid cancer, Yevgeny Selivanov.
Baths in Siberian deer antler blood are rumored to improve life expectancy and sexual vitality, a method recommended by Siberian-born Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
According to French weekly Paris Match, on visits to France in 2017 and Saudi Arabia in 2019, Vladimir Putin was accompanied by a team responsible for collecting his excrement when he went to the toilet for possible collection avoid giving information about their health.
Recently, the weekly newspaper Newsweek, citing US intelligence sources, claimed that he was treated for advanced cancer in April. The US National Security Council has denied being the source of this information.
The head of Ukraine’s secret service, General Kyrylo Budanov, told Sky News that Putin has cancer.
Also read: What is hubris syndrome, that omnipotence attributed to Vladimir Putin?
2. What information has been confirmed?
The first and only time the Kremlin confirmed a health problem was in the fall of 2012, when the Russian leader disappeared from public view and canceled meetings. The Kremlin then mentioned a muscle strain and a Russian newspaper reported back problems.
Major health problems emerged during this period, according to the Proekt website. The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted the Russian president to behave strangely, which observers say reflects his paranoia.
Officially, the head of state is vaccinated, but unlike most of his counterparts on the planet, no picture of him receiving his dose has ever been released.
Its visitors are subject to drastic precautions, including quarantine days. And everyone remembers the huge table that separated the Kremlin chief from his foreign guests, notably French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit in February before the war began.
Only visitors who have agreed to undergo the tests – which Emmanuel Macron had refused – are allowed to approach and shake hands with Putin.
During a meeting between Vladimir Putin and his minister Shoigu in late April, images of the Russian president clinging to the table also sparked speculation about a possible method of hiding his tremors.
In addition, the Kremlin has indefinitely and without explanation postponed the annual June event at which the President calls his compatriots.
Enormous precautions are being taken to protect him, such as during his annual press conference in 2020, when only a handful of properly tested journalists were allowed into the room after the quarantine. And the President most often takes care of day-to-day business via video conference.
3. What does the Kremlin say?
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has always denied these allegations. “I don’t think anyone with all their senses could see any sign of illness or disease in this person (Putin),” he said. said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the French channel TF1 at the end of May.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally, did the same in a March interview with Japanese television. “If you think there is something wrong with President Putin, you are the most pathetic person in the world.”
Indeed, in his recent appearances, including a forum on Peter the Great and an interview with Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, the Russian leader has shown no weakness.
4. Why is it important?
The majority of observers believe that Vladimir Putin, ruler of the Kremlin with no apparent successor, will run again in 2024 after controversial constitutional changes allowed him a third term.
“The country has not a shred of truth about the physical and emotional state of its President,” complains Proekt editor Roman Badanin.
“The whole planet doesn’t know if a person who can destroy humanity by pressing a red button is sane.”
Four questions about Vladimir Putin’s health, the subject of all rumors and absolute mysteryEXPAND