Russian scientists have been ordered to hand over details of their latest anti-ageing research in an alleged bid to keep Vladimir Putin and his circle of septuagenarian cronies alive.
The edict came from the “big boss” and sent officials scrambling to carry out the 71-year-old dictator’s alleged instructions, according to one source.
Putin has long been interested in combating ageing, but now there seems to be a new urgency in pursuing “active longevity”.
Independent media outlets Meduza and Sistema revealed a letter from their Ministry of Health sent in June demanding the latest advances to turn back the biological clock.
It has shocked top medical researchers.
Russian scientists have been ordered to hand over details of their latest anti-ageing research in an alleged bid to keep Vladimir Putin alive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sunbathes during his holiday in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia. The picture was taken between 1 and 3 August 2017. The Russian leader is currently 71 years old and will remain in office until 2036, when he will be over 80.
Putin looks frail as he sits with a blanket on his lap during Russia’s 2022 Victory Day Parade
A source said: “The senior chief set a task and officials rushed to implement it in every possible way.”
An insider revealed: ‘We were asked to urgently send all our developments, and the letter arrived, let’s say, today, and everything had to have been sent yesterday.
“To be honest, this is the first time in my life that I have encountered something like this. Normally, every national project or FTP (federal target programme) is preceded by a series of meetings with the participation of various specialists, a kind of public debate,” explained a doctor from a national medical research centre.
Experts were asked to submit “development proposals” to reduce cell damage, the report said.
They were tasked with highlighting new technologies that prevent cognitive and sensory decline, as well as methods to correct the immune system and new medical technologies based on bioprinting.
The Russian dictator currently has legal authority to remain in office until 2036, after an extension was approved in 2020, meaning he would remain in power well into his 80s.
Putin is conspicuously surrounded by a coterie of old cronies, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, 74, FSB security service chief Alexander Bortnikov, 72, senior adviser Nikolai Patrushev, 73, SVR spy chief Sergey Naryshkin, who turns 70 next month, and Russian Senate Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, 75.
Aging dictator Vladimir Putin, 71, is demanding that Russian medical institutes develop cures for the elderly after losing more than 120,000 Russian soldiers in the war.
Vladimir Putin on horseback in Siberia, Russia, in 2013. Putin has long been interested in combating aging, but now there seems to be a new urgency in the pursuit of “active longevity.”
A Face App image predicts what Vladimir Putin will look like if he remains in power in the Kremlin until he is 80
“We received this document and, frankly, I was in shock,” said another indignant source.
‘The message itself baffled me.
‘Well, of course, now we have no one to restore except these old stumps (elderly Russian politicians).
‘That is, right now (during the war) we have to leave everything behind.
“This cynicism is even more disconcerting.”
A source close to the Kremlin said: ‘All modern research discussed in the national project is quite expensive: it requires a lot of money and expenses.
“Developing new drugs costs billions and no national project can afford that figure, especially now.”
Some see the hand of a close Putin ally, Mikhail Kovalchuk, 77, director of the Kurchatov Institute, Russia’s top nuclear institute, as being behind the initiative.
Considered a conspiracy theorist, he advocates the development of a so-called “Russian genome” and has spoken of “a weapon that targets a particular ethnicity.”
Putin is surrounded by a circle of old friends. Pictured: Russian Senate Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, 75
SVR spy chief Sergei Naryshkin, 69
The head of the FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, 72 years old
He has accused foreign states of trying to create a new kind of “human servant.”
Putin’s daughter, Maria Vorontsova, 39, an endocrinologist, is also suspected of being involved in the quest for a longer life.
This comes at a time when Putin has appeared frail and subdued recently, sparking rumours about his deteriorating health and mental state.
Images from meetings and official appearances show the Russian president holding onto tables for support, stamping his feet on the floor and looking unsteady as he walks, and his appearance has become more rounded and puffy over the years.
In December, Putin cancelled a presidential trip to Pskov at the last minute due to “unfavourable flight conditions” despite weather forecasts suggesting clear skies, prompting onlookers to raise questions about his health.
He then cancelled a visit to Russia’s largest tank plant in Nizhny Tagil and also called off his usual appearance at a year-end meeting of his ministers, before cancelling his traditional December press conference and the end-of-year ice hockey match.
In October last year, the Kremlin also came under pressure to deny rumours that Putin had suffered a cardiac arrest, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the speculation “false”.
Earlier this year, Putin announced that Russia needed a new national project, aimed at “preserving the health” of its citizens.
Vladimir Putin’s eldest daughter, Maria Vorontsova, 39. Vorontsova, an endocrinologist, is also suspected of being involved in the quest for a longer life.
One of its programs is the fight against aging, with the goal of saving 175,000 lives by 2030.
At the same time, Putin’s war is believed to have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
The dictator suffered a blow earlier this year with the sudden death of his former anti-ageing guru, Professor Vladimir Khavinson, 77, director of the St Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology.
Khavinson famously claimed that he was developing the secret to enabling humans to live to 110 or 120 years by slowing the aging process.
He is known to have tried to help three previous Kremlin leaders (Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Boris Yeltsin), but complained that he had been invited too late to significantly prolong their lives.
Putin’s mistress Alina Kabaeva, 41, like other top Russian gymnasts, took his “Khavinson peptides” – anti-aging and healing cocktails he created after years of secret research while working for the Soviet Red Army.
Commenting on a 2013 photo of Putin with his torso bare while riding a horse, he said: “A wonderful photo, this is how a man should look.”
‘Why is it perfect?
“He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t drink, he plays sports. His example should be imitated. Everyone, young or old, should do the same.”
He predicted that the strongman could remain in office “at least 20 years; his potential is very high,” although he did not admit whether Putin took his peptides.
“At the time I was a military scientist and the goal was to create new drugs to stimulate the use of organs by the military,” he said.
This comes as Putin arrived in Mongolia today and a member of the international court issued an arrest warrant against him.
The official visit, during which he will meet Mongolian leader Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on Tuesday, is Putin’s first to a member country of the International Criminal Court since the court issued an arrest warrant for him nearly 18 months ago on charges of war crimes in Ukraine.
Ukraine has asked Mongolia to arrest Putin and hand him over to the Hague tribunal.
A spokesman for the Russian leader said last week that the Kremlin is not concerned about the visit.
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