Vladimir Putin’s health has been the subject of speculation for years, with rumours suggesting he may have cancer, Parkinson’s or some other health complication.
Independent Russian media outlets have even reported that Putin travels with a large group of health professionals, including oncologists.
Angus Dalgleish, professor of oncology at St George’s, University of London, added weight to the suspicion that Putin may be suffering from cancer.
Speaking in 2022, he said of Putin: “Looking at him two or three years ago and now. [It] raises the question in my mind and the way he’s acted and changed his behaviour, his disconnect and cognitive problem [if] he has a brain tumour.”
Putin has been seen visibly shaking during public appearances and gripping onto furniture to ensure he doesn’t fall.
READ MORE: Vladimir Putin hides ‘shaking hands’ during key speech as health rumours swirl
In April 2022, Putin met Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and was seen shaking uncontrollably, leading many to believe he was suffering from spasms.
Sir Richard Dearlove, the former boss at MI6, told LBC: “I have contacts and friends still in eastern Europe who think there is something fundamentally wrong with him medically … probably Parkinson’s which, of course, has different representations, different variations, different seriousness.
“But if the man is paranoid – and I think the murder of [imprisoned opposition leader Alexander] Navalny might suggest a certain paranoia – that is one of the symptoms.”
A former Russian FSB officer told The Mirror in 2022 that Putin suffers from headaches and his eyesight it “worsening.”
They said: “We are told he is suffering from headaches and when he appears on TV he needs pieces of paper with everything written in huge letters to read what he’s going to say.
“They are so big each page can only hold a couple of sentences. His eyesight is seriously worsening.
“And his limbs are now also shaking uncontrollably.”
They added: “He has no more than two to three years to stay alive.”