President Vladimir Putin announced in mid-September the economic situation in Russia was "normalising" and the worse was over from the series of economic sanctions
AFP

KEY POINTS

  • The mysterious blemish was seen when Putin grabbed the arm of a Russian soldier while he was overseeing military drills
  • The Kremlin later released two other versions of the video that covered the blemish or removed any shots of Putin's hand
  • Telegram channel General SVR claims Putin is battling constant nausea and coughing fits

Russian President Vladimir Putin was seen in a recent video with what seemed to be intravenous (IV) track marks on his hands, reigniting rumors that he is suffering from a serious medical condition.

The propaganda video was released by the Russian Ministry of Defense last week where Putin was shown overseeing military drills while accompanied by several soldiers. At one point, Putin grabs one of the soldier's arms with his right hand where a mystery blemish was showing.

In a tweet, Kyiv Post journalist Jason Jay Smart noted that the Kremlin released two other versions of the propaganda video: one that used watermarks to cover up the blemish and another that did not feature any shot of Putin's hand.

"Videos released by [Russian] government news show what could be track marks, from IVs, on the hand of Putin. For the same event, the Kremlin released two videos: one with tons of watermarks (making the hand harder to see), the other without any shot of his hand," Smart wrote.

It is unclear whether the marks are the result of an IV treatment. Dr. Marc Siegel, a medical contributor for Fox News, told Fox News Digital that Putin does not look like someone who is suffering from cancer—one of the medical conditions the Russian leader is rumored to be suffering from. However, Siegel noted that the placement of the blemish is typical of where one would put an IV line for cancer treatment.

Putin has been repeatedly plagued by rumors of poor health since the start of the war in Ukraine. In the months that followed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Putin was rumored to be suffering from blood cancer and Parkinson's disease.

The rumors were fueled in large part by reports from the Telegram channel General SVR, which on Monday claimed that Putin is suffering from constant nausea, lack of appetite and coughing fits.

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"In the last few months, Putin has lost eight kilograms of weight, and the president's entourage is worried that the noticeable progress and constant cough will be considered by the elites as a sign of the rapid deterioration of the leader's health," General SVR wrote on a Telegram post, translated via Google Translate.

The International Business Times could not independently verify the claims concerning Putin's health.

Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill said Vladimir Putin's rule over Russia had been mandated by God, in a message for the president's 70th birthday
AFP
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