The Kremlin has been forced to issue a statement denying that Vladimir Putin has any health problems after admitting that he underwent regular examinations at a major Moscow hospital.
The 72-year-old Russian dictator spoke in a televised session with his health minister, Mikhail Murashko, with the aim of encouraging people to get vaccinated against the flu.
“Doctors at the Central Clinical Hospital, where I periodically undergo all kinds of examinations, also recommend that I be vaccinated with domestically produced drugs,” Putin said.
This evidently led to speculation about the despot’s medical condition, which his aides moved quickly to quell.
The state news agency TASS insisted that Putin “has no health problems,” as it emphasized that his visits to a hospital known as the Kremlin Clinic were for normal check-ups.
The Kremlin has been forced to deny that Vladimir Putin, 72, has any health problems after he said he undergoes “all kinds of regular examinations” at Moscow’s elite Central Clinical Hospital.
This led to speculation about the despot’s medical condition.
His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said: “He was referring to routine medical examinations.”
In another televised meeting on Wednesday, Putin, who is rumored to have undergone repeated Botox treatments, appeared to have an itchy face.
Putin’s health was the subject of intense speculation several years ago, and particularly at the time of the pandemic, when he took exceptional safety measures and officials routinely quarantined him for two weeks or more before seeing him.
This also saw the arrival of his notorious long table, when no one was allowed to sit near it.
There were reports that he coughed incessantly and that his hands and feet made apparently involuntary jerking movements.
On several occasions he seemed to walk with a limp.
Rumors focused on various types of cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
Leaks suggested that he traveled regularly with a cancer surgeon present, while observers noted prolonged and mysterious absences, with “canned” (pre-recorded) meetings broadcast to give the impression that he was actively working.
In recent years there has been much speculation about the health of the Russian leader. Pictured: Putin looked colorless while attending a press conference in Minsk in May.
Putin appears frail as he sits with a blanket on his lap during the Victory in Russia Day Parade 2022
Vladimir Putin on horseback in Siberia, Russia, in 2013. Putin has long been interested in the fight against aging, but there now seems a new urgency to pursue “active longevity.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin sunbathes during his vacation in the remote Tuva region of southern Siberia. The photograph was taken between August 1 and 3, 2017. Last month, it was revealed that Russian scientists had been ordered to hand over details of their latest anti-aging research in an alleged attempt to rejuvenate Putin. .
Almost a year ago, the Kremlin was even forced to deny claims by Telegram channel General SVR and Russian political analyst Dr. Valery Solovey that Putin had died and been replaced by a younger, fitter doppelganger.
However, over the past year, Putin traveled regularly and interacted with people at official and unofficial events.
He also campaigned in a presidential “election” widely considered rigged, so he couldn’t lose.
His health appears to have been much better as he undertakes grueling official itineraries, traveling much more than he did several years ago, both within Russia and abroad.
Last month it was revealed that Russian scientists had been ordered to hand over details of their latest anti-aging research in an alleged attempt to rejuvenate Putin and his circle of septuagenarian cronies.
Putin has long been interested in the fight against aging, but there now seems a new urgency to pursue “active longevity,” it was reported.
The Health Minister could find himself in trouble after responding to Putin’s comments by suggesting the dictator was an “older” person.
“This year I want to note that special vaccines with maximum protection against the flu virus have been prepared for older people,” Murashko said.
In May, there was a report that Putin has four doctors on permanent duty at his main official residence, Novo-Ogaryovo, which has a set of medical rooms on the ground floor.
“There are constantly four doctors and 111 security guards on duty,” reported the VChK-OGPU, which has links to the secret services.