Vladimir Putin reignited questions about his health after a video of him seemingly “clinging to his chair” went viral online.
The Russian leader has had to fend off speculation about his condition for years, with the Kremlin issuing an official statement to reject reports of him suffering a heart attack over the summer of 2023.
But a clip of Putin from a recent address to residents of the city of Chukotka has once again sparked questions about his health, with the video now having been shared over 800,000 times.
Ukrainian government adviser Anton Gerashchenko also re-shared the video, noting the Russian president appeared to “cling” to his chair while speaking to members of the public.
He wrote: “Clinging to the chair, Putin described his career and special training in ‘illegal intelligence’.”
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Gerashchenko noted Putin appeared to be holding his chair very tightly with his right hand while discussing his earlier career and insisting “everything was very simple” at the time.
The Ukrainian advisor noted the Russian leader appeared to relax slightly when he changed the topic to, bizarrely, discuss foreign cartoons.
Putin’s health has been the subject of widespread speculation for years but talks about his effective state have multiplied since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
On several occasions, the Russian president was spotted struggling to keep his legs still as tremors appeared to force him to cling to the podium during speeches.
Speaking to the Daily Express in October, Putin’s former speechwriter claimed the politician recently showcased signs his health is “deteriorating”.
Abbas Gallyamov said: “When I was working in the Kremlin Putin was perfectly healthy.
“Last year there were absolutely visual, noticeable signs of his health deteriorating. His hand was shaking, he could hardly control himself sometimes.
“This year he looks better. Probably last year it was due to the shock that his army turned out to be a paper tiger.
“Now he seems to have learned to control himself, maybe with the help of drugs.”
Questions about Putin’s health have continued to plague him throughout his ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Last September, rumours began to circulate claiming the Russian leader had collapsed at his Valdai residence and died due to a heart attack.
The claim, which originated on Telegram, made the media rounds for days and prompted the Kremlin to issue an unprecedented statement to deny the allegations.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskow dismissed the claim saying: “These (kinds of stories) belong to the category of fake news, discussed with enviable tenacity by a number of media outlets.
“This brings nothing but a smile (in the Kremlin).”
