As the Ukraine war progresses, Vladimir Putin’s health has become the focus of attention. Is the Kremlin ruler really seriously ill?
Moscow/Munich – His speeches are brimming with toxicity, he seems fidgety in many of his everyday movements, his cheeks are swollen – since the outbreak of war with Ukraine on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin has looked battered. In the eyes of many attentive observers, the bloody conflict seems to have left its mark on the warlord himself, even though the 69-year-old is far removed from the actual war. On the other hand, it is unclear whether the suspected “health problems” can really be described as such.
Ukraine-Russia war: Vladimir Putin’s health changes are puzzling
Jeffrey Edmonds looks opposite Business Insider “Nothing really credible” about the Russian president’s alleged health ailments. The American is the former director for Russia in the National Security Council and a former CIA military analyst, he keeps a close eye on events in Ukraine. However, he also noticed a change in behavior: Putin is “usually the voice of calm in Russia,” says Edmonds, but he has become noticeably more emotional and angry in public. There are many indications that the 69-year-old “does not feel comfortable with something.”
In view of the latest developments, this change is relatively easy to explain: For more than three months, Russia has been in a costly war with Ukraine. Day by day it seems to be becoming clearer that Putin made a massive miscalculation in planning the raid, both in terms of the advance of his army and the resistance of Ukrainians and the world community. Kyiv has still not fallen and the Russian armed forces are also making difficult progress in the contested Donbass region. The sanctions of the western allies around the USA let the domestic economy plunge into free fall.
Just a few days ago, the head of Russia’s central bank warned that the coming weeks and months would be “difficult for both companies and citizens”. Even though the protests of the early days of the war in Russia have subsided, the internal pressure on the 69-year-old Putin, who has always been portrayed as a sporty macho politician, is growing. The enthusiastic judoka regularly got on the mat himself, attracted media attention, ventured onto ice as an ice hockey player and rode shirtless on a horse through the Russian prairies. The image of the strong man seems to be crumbling.
Ukraine-Russia war: Several sources suspect Vladimir Putin’s serious illness
Giving up is out of the question for the 69-year-old, no matter how hopeless the situation may be. His state of health has therefore become more and more the focus in recent weeks and has caused a lot of speculation. “We can confirm that Putin is in a very bad psychological and physical condition,” said Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, in an interview a few weeks ago Sky News. Budanov even spoke of a possible cancer of the Kremlin ruler and at the same time brought up an internal revolution in Moscow.
Rumors that Putin may have cancer are nothing new: in early April, the British and Ukrainian media reported that the Russian president might be suffering from thyroid cancer and was being treated for it. In general, these rumors – like many things related to what happened in the Ukraine conflict – should be viewed with caution.
The conspicuous teetering and twitching, which could recently be observed during public appearances by the President and which some media attributed to a possible Parkinson’s disease, can hardly be confirmed. “I can find no evidence of Parkinsonism in Putin,” Ray Chadhuri, a neurologist at the University of London, told the media in April Deutsche Welle.
Vladimir Putin: Death does not necessarily mean the end of the Ukraine war
As Kevin Ryan, a retired US brigadier general and former defense attaché in Russia, told the Business Insider says he has “no evidence” that Putin is near death and seriously ill. Rather, the speculation is wishful thinking – the death of the Russian president is not synonymous with an end to the military conflicts in Ukraine: “His death could influence the course, but the ruling circle that supported him will always still be there,” Ryan continues. (to)
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