Putin Needed 'Urgent Medical Care'; Doctors Rushed To Russian Leader's Bedside Following Health Scare

Russian President Vladimir Putin needed “urgent medical care” Saturday after suffering from “severe nausea,” a report has claimed.

The 69-year-old’s medical team rushed to his bedside in the middle of the night, and spent three hours with him until his condition improved, Sky News reported, citing General SVR channel, which is claimed to be run by a former officer from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

“Putin on the night of Friday July 22 to Saturday July 23 needed urgent medical care,” the channel said. “At about 1am, the medical workers on duty at [his] residence were summoned to the president.

“Putin complained of severe nausea... Twenty minutes later, an additional team of doctors with the president’s attending physicians was called."

“It is known that doctors provided assistance and were near Putin for three hours, and after the president’s condition improved, they left his chambers,” the channel added.

However, International Business Times could not independently verify the claims about Putin's health.

Rumors about Putin's bad health have been making the rounds for months. The speculation resurfaced during the Russian leader's visit to Iran.

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency recently spoke about Putin's condition. William Burns said there was no intelligence suggesting Putin was unstable or in bad health. He also joked the soon-to-be 70-year-old appeared to be "too healthy."

"There are lots of rumors about President Putin's health and as far as we can tell he's entirely too healthy," Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, according to BBC. Putin is "a big believer in control, intimidation and getting even," the CIA chief said, adding he has become stronger in these traits over the years.

"He is convinced that his destiny as Russia's leader is to restore Russia as a great power. He believes the key to doing that is to recreate a sphere of influence in Russia's neighborhood and he cannot do that without controlling Ukraine."

Meanwhile, a Russian expert on Putin strongly disputed the CIA “too healthy” claim.

“The Americans, the CIA particularly, have information on the real state of health of the Russian president," Political scientist Valery Solovey said, according to News.com.au.“They definitely know that he has serious troubles, including mental ones.”