A fresh report of what appears to be the declining health of Russian President Vladimir Putin broke on Monday.
Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict last year, the health of the 70-year-old president has been a matter of concern.
As The Dallas Express reported in late November, Putin’s apparently purple hands raised concerns over his health in a meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
A few days later, Putin was allegedly out of breath and stumbling over his words at a meeting with a group of mothers of Russian soldiers sent to Ukraine.
The latest news comes from the General SVR Telegram channel, an account that remains influential in Russia despite its authenticity being questioned by local media outlets, per Business Insider.
On April 10, the channel reported that Putin’s health is apparently rapidly deteriorating.
During a meeting at the Kremlin on April 9, the post claimed, “Putin complained of severe pain in his head, blurred vision, numbness of the tongue, and partial loss of sensation in his right arm and leg.”
These symptoms are typically associated with a migraine, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or heart attack, per Health Direct.
There have long been rumors circulating about Putin’s poor health.
The British tabloid paper The Sun claimed last year that a Kremlin insider confirmed that Putin is battling pancreatic and prostate cancer and has early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
“This fact will be denied in every possible way and hidden. Putin is regularly stuffed with all kinds of heavy steroids and innovative painkilling injections to stop the spread of [cancer],” the insider, who claimed to be a member of Russian security services, wrote in an email.
Several videos of Putin apparently behaving strangely have circulated on social media platforms.
In one video posted in late February, Putin can be seen fidgeting with his feet during a meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
https://twitter.com/Worchestra_/status/1626588888704876545
The latest report from the General SVR Telegram channel has further fueled these rumors. The post suggested that Putin’s family members and close associates are in a panic and fear the worst.
Despite these claims, the Kremlin has continuously dismissed reports that Putin is in poor health.
Back in July, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov addressed the rumors, calling them a campaign of disinformation.
“Ukrainian, American and British information ‘specialists’ have been throwing out various fakes about the state of the president’s health in recent months. These are nothing but fakes,” Peskov said, per The Moscow Times.
Putin has appeared in meetings since General SVR’s report, per the Kremlin.
Nonetheless, these rumors could raise questions about Putin’s grip on power in Russia.
The next Russian presidential elections will be held on March 17, 2024.
It remains to be seen whether the ongoing war in Ukraine and the economic and political stresses that have accompanied it will whittle away at Putin’s electoral margin.