Rumors about the declining health of the Russian President Vladimir Putin gained steam in February this year after multiple videos of him appearing to tremble and fidget in public surfaced on the internet.
But long before the idea of invading Ukraine even unfolded, the Russian President's ill health debates had already been surfacing.
According to previous media reports, some of the rumors even date back more than two decades. During the early days of Putin's presidency, there were endless stories of him being severely ill.
Later in 2003, new reports emerged after the Russian magazine Kommersant-Vlast published a photo of Putin in an oversize suit, which suggested that he was suffering from eczema on his leg – a condition that makes your skin red and itchy.
In 2005, The Atlantic magazine published a hypothesis from Brenda Connors, a research assistant at the Department of Strategic Studies at the Naval War College in Newport. Connors, a "motion analyst," told the magazine that Putin's "right arm and leg practically do not work, which indicates the consequences of either a stroke or suffered in childhood trauma or illness." She derived this after watching a tape of Putin's first inauguration.
Another study by the Pentagon in 2008 claimed that the Russian President suffered from Asperger's disease – where people have a difficult time relating to others socially, and their behavior and thinking patterns can be rigid and repetitive. Even French President Emmanuel Macron, who met Putin recently, said he was exhibiting a mental illness. Describing the Russian leader as "rigid and paranoid."
This followed another discussion about his mental health in 2010 and his apparent use of Botox as photos of Putin with a black eye emerged on the internet.
The rumor again picked up momentum in 2012 when then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had to postpone his visit to Russia amid Putin's "health problems."
Despite all the defensive efforts by the Kremlin, the rumors continued to build up over the years.
In 2014, 2018, and 2020, there were numerous reports that claimed Putin had cancer; some even claimed that he might step down from the presidency due to his declining condition. But that did not happen.
MGIMO professor, Valery Solovei, made headlines in 2020 after his sources informed him that Putin had undergone cancer surgery in February that year and was suffering from Parkinson's disease.
The latest story regarding Putin's health to join the queue is the U.S. intelligence community's comprehensive assessment under the Biden administration that says the Russian leader underwent treatment in April for advanced-stage cancer.
Recently, four British tabloids also claimed that Putin may have already been dead, and it's his body double that has replaced him. In contrast, many others argued that the president might have just 3 more years to live.
Kremlin Has Tried To Suppress Ill Health Reports
The Kremlin has always defended against the reports of Putin's illnesses and claimed that he is in good health.
In 2002 when reports about Putin's health gained momentum, the head of the Medical Center of the Presidential Administration, Sergei Mironov, said, "Vladimir Putin is healthy, strong, in a word, there are no problems of a medical nature."
"In terms of blood pressure stability, electrocardiogram readings, functional loads, measurements of lung capacity, and some other parameters, Putin is much younger than his 50 years," Mironov added.
Even recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – who is also a close ally of the president – refuted the reports and said there was no sign of any ailment.
Many experts have claimed that the Putin's isolation makes it harder for U.S. intelligence to precisely assess his status and health. But the rumors indicate that the varying reports may just be the "tip of the iceberg."
Photo: Photo: Created with an image from ΝΕΑ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ on Flickr
