Further questions have arisen concerning the health of Russian president Vladimir Putin after he allegedly showed signs of illness in recent meetings.
When Vladimir Putin met with a carefully chosen group of parents on November 25, he reportedly seemed physically uncomfortable and out of breath, stopping to clear his throat and stumbling over his words.
This incident came only days after the Russian leader’s hands turned purple, according to some observers, in a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, leading to renewed worries about Putin’s health.
Denying that the Russian president is critically ill, Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said, “Everything is fine with his health.”
Putin and the Cuban leader met in Moscow. Since the military operation in Ukraine started in late February, Díaz-Canel has been one of the few world leaders to go to Russia.
Díaz-Canel has said the international sanctions against Russia were wrong and that he would always stand with the Kremlin against the “Yankee Empire.”
Video of their meeting showed Putin grabbing the arm of his chair during the bilateral talks, and his hand seemingly appeared to change colors as he held onto the chair arm.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Putin spent months in quarantine in an attempt to prevent contracting the virus. Since the war in Ukraine began, he has made several public appearances and shown signs that his physical health might be worsening.
In leaked audio from May, an oligarch with ties to the Kremlin appeared to say that Putin had blood cancer. New Lines magazine obtained the recording, which said the president was “very sick.”
In May, a Victory Day parade was held in Moscow. The Russian leader was seen with a blanket over his legs at the event. Some people said the marks on his hands could be from intravenous drips, which could be seen in other pictures.
Lord Richard Dannatt, former British Army head, also said Putin’s hands looked like he might be sick.
“Attentive people are now noticing that the tops of his hands are pretty black, which is a sign that injections are going in when other parts of the body can’t,” Dannatt suggested.
Later that month, the Sun claimed it had seen documents from Russian intelligence that said that Putin had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer in their early stages.
However, Professor Michael Clarke, a defense and security expert, suggested there was no evidence that Putin had Parkinson’s or cancer a month after the Russian parade. “He is known to hit the Botox quite heavily,” Clarke proffered.
Clarke said Putin travels with doctors, further noting that the Russian president frequently leaves meetings to consult with others. He suspects Putin is only a hypochondriac but not critically ill.
U.S. intelligence officials allegedly told Newsweek that they think Putin was treated in April for “advanced cancer.” The CIA director, William Burns, said they do not know how Putin’s health is faring.
Russian officials, however, have pushed back against assertions of poor health. “I don’t think that sane people can see signs of some kind of illness or ailment in this person,” countered Russian foreign secretary Sergey Lavrov.