Ever since Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in 1999, there has been frenzied speculation about him. The speculation has ranged from discussions on his love life to claims the Russian president is the richest man in the world. But in recent years, rumours and reporting have mostly centred on one target: Putin's poor health.
Putin is unsteady. pic.twitter.com/ohlCZvMqYt
— Ken Olin (@kenolin1) April 25, 2022
In his first decade in the Kremlin, Putin projected a deeply masculine image, riding shirtless on a horse and engaging in Judo. But now at nearly 70 years of age, Putin has become slower. Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, some Western media reports have claimed Putin may be suffering from cancer and could be irrational as a result.
In recent days, a video has gone viral of Putin meeting with his Belarusian counterpart, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The meeting between the two happened in February, but the video clip only surfaced recently.
In the 8-second clip, Putin's right arm is seen trembling uncontrollably and he pushes it against his chest to stop the shaking. Putin is also seen to stumble, as if his leg was stiff, as he approaches to embrace Lukashenko. A separate video clip of the meeting showed Putin appear fidgety in his chair.
Rory Cellan-Jones, a former BBC journalist who himself has Parkinson's disease, tweeted the video on Monday. Cellan-Jones observed, “Looks like Parkinson’s to me...”
The suspicion that Putin may have Parkinson's disease is not new. Last month, Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of the UK's MI6 external intelligence agency, told The Mirror, “Putin’s behaviour, maybe his rationality is prejudiced or compromised by illness”. Dearlove told The Mirror “The best explanation, that we don’t know whether it’s correct or not, is that he may have Parkinson’s. That certainly I’ve heard from several neurologists who say that loss of restrain, psychosis, are very common Parkinson’s symptoms.”
He suspected Putin may be on steroids to treat the Parkinson's disease. Dearlove pointed to the change in Putin's appearance as possible evidence of his use of steroids.
Last week, a video of Putin meeting Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had put public scrutiny on the president's health. Putin could be seen gripping the table he was sitting on and slouching in his chair and generally looking uncomfortable.
On Tuesday, Putin met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. They were both seated at the ends of a long table. Putin's use of a long table for meetings, ever since the start of the Covid pandemic, had raised concerns he was worried about the risk of possible infection.
Earlier this month, the Kremlin denied Putin had undergone surgery for thyroid cancer. Russian media outlets had claimed a thyroid cancer surgeon was among a large group of doctors, who accompanied Putin on visits to the resort town of Sochi from 2016 to 2019.
