Officials were quick to quash potential speculation that developed in the wake of a recent television appearance by Putin, who has been dogged by rumours of ill health since 2022
The Kremlin has rushed out a statement denying Vladimir Putin has health problems after the Russian leader admitted undergoing regular examinations at a top Moscow hospital.
The Russian despot, 72, was speaking in a televised session with his health minister Mikhail Murashko aimed at encouraging people to have flu jabs when he admitted getting “all sorts of regular examinations”. He said: “Doctors at the Central Clinical Hospital, where I undergo all sorts of regular examinations, also recommend getting vaccinated with domestically produced drugs.”
The admission appears to have sparked speculation that Putin may have some kind of medical condition – but his aides acted quickly to quash any developing rumours. State news agency TASS was deployed to insist that Putin “has no health problems” as the broadcaster emphasised his visits to a hospital known as the Kremlin Clinic were for normal routine check-ups.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “He meant routine medical examinations.” In a separate televised meeting on Wednesday, Putin – who is rumoured to have undergone repeated botox treatments – appeared to be itching his face. Putin’s health was the subject of intense speculation several years ago, and particularly at the time of the pandemic when he took exceptional security measures with officials routinely quarantining for two week or longer before seeing him.
Almost one year ago, the Kremlin was even forced to deny claims by Telegram channel General SVR and a Russian political analyst Dr Valery Solovey that Putin had died – and been replaced by a younger and fitter body double. Yet in the past year, Putin has regularly travelled and mingled with people at official and unofficial events.
Many of the claims regarding his health that have circulated online have since been determined false, with intelligence leaders having confirmed that Putin is likely alive. In 2022, when most of the rumours were circulating, CIA chief William Burns told attendees of the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado that he appeared “entirely too healthy”.
He said: “There are lots of rumours about President Putin’s health and as far as we can tell he’s entirely too healthy.” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, previously said: “In recent months, Ukrainian, American and British so-called information ‘specialists’ have thrown around various fakes about the health of the president. But it is nothing but fakes.”
