Vladimir Putin‘s health has been brought into question yet again as new footage emerged today of the Russian president seemingly unable to use his right arm.
It happened at the same event where Russia’s authoritarian leader signed a new military doctrine that accuses the United States of being Moscow’s greatest threat.
Meanwhile Putin and his friends are making preparations to flee Russia should his army be defeated in Ukraine, according to a Telegram channel that claims to come from inside the Kremlin.
The video clip captured the moment Putin, 69, was given a tour of a military museum as part of a weekend of festivities marking Russia’s Navy Day, celebrated on the last Sunday of every July.
The Kremlin chief is seen speaking with Ksenia, daughter of defense minister Sergei Shoigu, when mosquitoes begin buzzing around the right side of his face.
Putin raises his left arm in an attempt to swat them away while his right arm hangs limply by his side.
He continues to itch and swat all around his head with one arm before walking alongside Ksenia with a slight limp as she continues her tour.
The clip is the latest of a litany of videos which appear to show the Russian president walking with a limp, struggling with strange ticks including odd foot and leg contortions, and un-coordinated movement.
The Kremlin chief (centre) is seen speaking with Ksenia, daughter of defence minister Sergei Shoigu (left), when mosquitoes begin buzzing around the right side of his face
He continues to itch and swat all around his head with one arm before walking alongside Ksenia with a slight limp as she continues her tour
Ksenia Shoigu, 31, daughter of Russia’s Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu (left) shows her father and Putin around a Russian military monument
Ksenia Shoigu, 31, is the daughter of Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu
However despite his apparent ill health, Putin was clear in his threat to the West when bragging about Moscow’s new supposed Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles, according to Reuters.
The autocrat was vague about where the weapons would be based, claiming that they would go where Russia’s interests dictate.
‘The key thing here is the capability of the Russian navy,’ Putin said. ‘It is able to respond with lightning speed to all who decides to infringe on our sovereignty and freedom.’
The new doctrine he signed casts NATO’s expansion toward Russia as an existential threat to Moscow. The idea of Ukraine joining NATO was among Putin’s justifications for invading Ukraine in February.
The other supposed threat is ‘the strategic policy of the USA to dominate the world’s oceans.’
There has been widespread speculation over the apparent decline of Putin’s health in recent months, with various sources suggesting the despot is struggling with a series of afflictions such as cancer and Parkinson’s.
The General SVR Telegram channel, which claims to be operated by a former officer from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, has long reported on Putin’s supposed health conditions and recently suggested he is sometimes replaced by a body double for public appearances in periods of particularly poor health.
The channel suggested Putin last week was afflicted by ‘severe nausea’ on Friday and Saturday, with doctors deployed to his bedside for more than three hours.
Following on those reports, that same Telegram channel said ‘Putin himself and his entourage are preparing plans for evacuation from Russia,’ citing his awareness ‘of the possibility of a sharp change of mood in the country’ over his invasion of Ukraine.
Telegram’s body double theory was echoed by head of Ukrainian military intelligence, who speculated that a lookalike stand-in may have been used for his arrival at a recent trip to Tehran.
It was only the second time Putin had been abroad since launching his brutal invasion of Ukraine more than five months ago.
Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Major-General Kyrylo Budanov, said of the moment Putin arrived in Tehran: ‘Please look at the moment of Putin’s exit from the plane.
‘Is it Putin at all?’
However, CIA director William Burns said recently that Putin was ‘too healthy’ and that there was no intelligence he was ailing.
‘There are lots of rumours about President Putin’s health and as far as we can tell he’s entirely too healthy,’ Mr Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado earlier this month.
British MI6 director Richard Moore later added: ‘There is no evidence that Putin is suffering from serious illness.’
William Burns, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said he fears Putin is ‘entirely too healthy’
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen emerging from his presidential plane during the welcoming ceremony in Tehran earlier this month
Russian political scientist Valery Solovey meanwhile has long claimed the Kremlin leader is suffering major health problems.
‘The Americans, the CIA particularly, have information on the real state of health of the Russian president,’ he said.
‘They definitely know that he has serious troubles, including mental ones.’
Solovey, a former professor at Moscow prestigious Institute of International Relations [MGIMO] who claims to have insider knowledge of Putin’s condition, suggested that Mr Burns’ claim Putin is ‘too healthy’ was made because the US is involved in behind the scenes negotiations with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin insists Putin is in good health and has dismissed any suggestion the president’s health is declining as complete fabrication.