[imagesource: NDTV File]

The long-running speculation about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health has only intensified since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The rumours have been mounting, with various visuals of his hands shaking uncontrollably, limping about, needing a blanket in relatively fine weather, and generally looking puffy and unwell.

That recent shot of the president gripping the table and slouching down in his chair while meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in April didn’t do him any favours.

While his health problems may be connected to the intense pressure he is likely feeling after ordering the invasion of Ukraine, there are those who say he is suffering from something as serious as cancer, or even Parkinson’s disease.

The meeting he just had with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon also sparked fresh rumours, reported Newsweek:

Image: Russian Media

In a clip shared on Russian media and picked up by Ukrainian news agency Daily Ukrainian News, Putin can be seen continuously fidgeting his feet while talking to his Tajikistani counterpart, a behavior that appear at odds with the leader’s normal conduct.

A snippet from that clip can be seen in the bottom video:

#Putin #health 🧵 12/
A video of Russian president Putin meeting Tajikistan’s president Rahmon is sparking renewed speculation about Putin’s health. In the video, Putin’s legs move very frequently, such that even Rahmon notices the unusual behavior.
👉 https://t.co/Ece6rsd9tT pic.twitter.com/eIBr6RVPrz

— Katherine Hersch (@ThatKHersch) May 17, 2022

There have also been whispers of Putin going in for some kind of emergency surgery:

…at the end of April, British tabloid The Sun reported that Russian media outlet General SVR had quoted a “Kremlin’s insider” as saying that the 69-year-old Putin was to undergo a cancer operation, although the nature of the specific operation was unspecified.

Some of his cronies have leaked a few scary-sounding possibilities, too:

In a leaked recording obtained by U.S. magazine New Lines last weekend, an unidentified Russian oligarch can be heard saying Putin is “very ill with blood cancer.”

The unnamed speaker said that the leader underwent back surgery linked to his blood cancer before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has now gone “crazy.”

Putin’s illness has also been detailed by former British spy Christopher Steele who ran the Russia desk at MI6 in London between 2006 and 2009 and worked there in the 1990s.

Sky News has more:

He told Sky News: “Certainly, from what we’re hearing from sources in Russia and elsewhere, is that Putin is, in fact, quite seriously ill.

“It’s not clear exactly what this illness is – whether it’s incurable or terminal, or whatever. But certainly, I think it’s part of the equation.”

Ukrainian Major General Kyrylo Budanov also said that Putin is seriously ill with cancer.

And yes, the body language experts have jumped on the fact that the president’s face seems “puffy” and his walk “unsteady”, suggesting illness and the intervention of strong medication.

Whether this all means he is at his most deadly or deathly, only time will tell.

[sources:skynews&newsweek]