Putin awkwardly climbs out of limo and stiffly lays flowers in Moscow
Putin awkwardly climbs out of limo and stiffly lays flowers in Red Square to mark national holiday, before ordering evacuation of citizens from Moscow-occupied Kherson ‘for their safety’
- Putin appeared on Friday to lay flowers, marking Russia’s National Unity Day
- He climbed awkwardly out of a limo which was driven 300ft across Red Square
- Putin then stiffly laid flowers at the foot of a monument to two 17th century war heroes, and addressed volunteers from occupied Ukrainian territories
- Russian leader said civilians should be taken out of Moscow-occupied Kherson
In another sign of Vladimir Putin’s degrading health, the Russian president made a stiff appearance on Friday when laying flowers to mark a national holiday.
Footage from the event captured Putin as he awkwardly climbed out of his bulletproof limousine on Red Square, watched by nervous security apparatchiks.
He appeared to show signs of a limp as he approached the monument, and seemed uncomfortable as he bent down to lay the bouquet to mark Unity Day – a national holiday to mark Russia’s expulsion of invading forces in the early 1600s.
Speaking at the event, Putin addressed his invasion of Ukraine – saying civilians should be taken out of Moscow-occupied Kherson, where Russian forces have been leading evacuations since mid-October as Kyiv’s forces advance.
Kyiv has likened Moscow’s efforts to remove the civilian population from Kherson to Soviet-like ‘deportations’ of its people.
Scroll down for video
Footage from Russia’s National Unity Day event captured Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) as he awkwardly climbed out of his bulletproof limousine on Red Square watched by nervous security apparatchiks
Putin appeared to show signs of a limp as he approached the monument, and seemed uncomfortable as he bent down to lay the bouquet
His public appearance came days after reports that an intelligence source close to the Kremlin had confirmed he is suffering from Parkinson’s and pancreatic cancer.
Putin, 70, is being watched closely as the conflict in Ukraine continues, with Moscow’s armies continuing to be pushed back in key areas.
The invasion, seen as Putin’s his personal war, could be brought to an end if his supposed illness worsened or he was overthrown by scheming officials – were they to decide he was no longer fit to be the country’s president.
Putin was seen arriving on Red Square to lay flowers at a newly renovated monument to Kuzma Minin – a famed merchant – and Dmitry Pozharsky – a Russian prince.
Together, the historic figures became national heroes in defending Russia against the Polish invasion in the early 17th century.
The Russian despot was driven a short distance of 300 feet from the Spassky Tower gate of his Kremlin seat of power with his security retinue around him.
The Russian despot was driven a short distance of 300 feet from the Spassky Tower gate of his Kremlin seat of power with his security retinue around him
Anti-Putin online media outlets questioned if him being driven in the limousine was because he was unable to walk a longer distance
He awkwardly clamoured out of the vehicle. Once out of his limousine he appeared to walk with a slight limp, as shown on footage from Russian defence ministry TV channel Zvezda
Pictured: Putin walks towards the monument holding the flowers. Footage of the event appeared to show he was walking with a slight limp
Pictured: Putin lays flowers to the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky on the National Unity Day in the Red Square in Moscow, November 4, 2022
Anti-Putin online media outlets questioned if this was because he was unable to walk a longer distance. ‘Old age is not a joy,’ commented CрTD media.
Once out of his limousine he appeared to walk with a slight limp, as shown on footage from Russian defence ministry TV channel Zvezda.
Putin told how at the beginning of the 17th century the country was on the verge of losing its sovereignty, but Russians did not allow this. Having united in a militia army led by Minin and Pozharsky, they defended their homeland, he said.
Claims have been circulating among opposition figures for years, fuelled by his unexplained absences and his shaky public appearances, that Putin is battling serious health problems but they have always been rubbished by the Kremlin.
A Russian intelligence source was reported earlier this week as confirming Putin had been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson’s and pancreatic cancer, claims long made by Telegram channel General SVR.
Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky (a merchant and a prince who defended Russia in the 17th century) while marking Russia’s Day of National Unity in Red Square in Moscow, November 4, 2022
Pictured: Putin addresses members of public associations, youth and volunteer organizations
‘Those who live in Kherson should be removed from zones of dangerous fighting,’ the Russian president told young volunteers from the occupied Ukrainian territories at the ceremony
His circle is worried that his ‘thinness and persistent cough’ is becoming noticeable and will be seen by the elites in Russia as a ‘sign of the leader’s rapidly deteriorating health’, claimed the channel last month.
Despite appearing considerably bloated and puffy in the face, the Russian president has lost 18lb in recent months, said the channel which purports to have sources inside the Kremlin.
Leaked documents, reported by The Sun this week, also allegedly read: ‘I can confirm he has been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson’s disease, but it’s already progressing. This fact will be denied in every possible way and hidden.
‘Putin is regularly stuffed with all kinds of heavy steroids and innovative painkilling injections to stop the spread of pancreatic cancer he was recently diagnosed with.
‘It not only causes a lot of pain, Putin has a state of puffiness of the face and other side effects – including memory lapses.
‘In his close circle, there are rumours that in addition to pancreatic cancer, which is gradually spreading, Putin also has prostate cancer.’
The tyrant was recently spotted with apparent track marks from IV treatment on the back of his hand, adding further fuel to the fire.
Ever since Putin ordered his military forces to invade Ukraine on February 24, the rumours have going into overdrive.
APRIL 21: Putin is seen gripping his desk with his right hand while meeting Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in the early stages of the war. Footage from the meeting raised questions about Putin’s health
MAY 9: Putin is shown watching a May 9 victory day parade in Moscow with a blanket over his lap
JULY 26: Putin listens to Yury Borisov, the chief executive of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, while he grips his desk with his right hand
JULY 19: Russian president Vladimir Putin is seen hobbling from his presidential plane during the welcoming ceremony in Tehran
AUGUST 25: Vladimir Putin is seen gripping the same desk with his right hand during a meeting with Head of the Federal Taxation Service Daniil Yegorov
What’s wrong with Putin?
Rumours have been circling for years that Vladimir Putin is suffering from health problems, and they have intensified since he launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Critics and Kremlin sources have indicated he may be suffering from cancer and Parkinson’s, supported by footage showing the leader shaking uncontrollably and gripping a table for support.
He has also disappeared from the public eye for weeks at a time, with suggestions he is undergoing surgery.
Valery Solovey, professor at Moscow State Institute of Foreign Affairs first hinted at Putin’s health problems, saying in 2020 he had undergone surgery for cancer.
Another unnamed source suggested the operation was on Putin’s abdomen.
He said: ‘One is of a psycho-neurological nature, the other is a cancer problem. If anyone is interested in the exact diagnosis, I’m not a doctor, and I have no ethical right to reveal these problems.
‘The second diagnosis is a lot, lot more dangerous than the first named diagnosis as Parkinson’s does not threaten physical state, but just limits public appearances.
‘Based on this information people will be able to make a conclusion about his life horizon, which wouldn’t even require specialist medical education.’
The Kremlin has consistently denied there is anything wrong with Putin’s health.
Others have previously noted his ‘gunslinger’s gait’ – a clearly reduced right arm swing compared to his left, giving him a lilting swagger.
An asymmetrically reduced arm swing is a classic feature of Parkinson’s and can manifest in ‘clinically intact subjects with a predisposition to later develop’ the disease, according to the British Medical Journal.
In February, Putin was seen with a shaking hand as he firmly gripped the side of his chair for support.
The clip, which was taken on February 18, just before the onset of his invasion of Ukraine, shows him welcoming fellow strongman Alexander Lukashenko at the Kremlin.
He pulls his trembling hand into his body in an attempt to quell the shakes, but then he almost stumbles as he unsteadily walks towards the Belarusian leader.
Later, Putin sits on a chair but is unable to remain still, constantly fidgeting and tapping his feet while he grips on to the arm for support.
In a meeting with defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin’s poor posture and his apparently bloated face and neck fuelled the speculation.
Video showed Putin speaking to Shoigu whilst gripping the edge of the table with his right hand – so hard that it appears white – and tapping his foot consistently.
He has since been seen limping and shaking his hands and legs, further bolstering the rumours.
He has been seen uncontrollably shaking, gripping tables and chairs for support, and appeared bloated and ill-at-ease.
The president has also frequently disappeared from the public eye for weeks at a time in recent years amid rumours he is undergoing surgery.
Over the summer, the Russian president was pictured awkwardly swatting mosquitos from his face with one arm while the other hung limply by his side.
Similarly, at a huge Victory Day parade in Moscow in May, the now 70-year-old autocrat appeared to walk with a limp and had a blanket over his lap, while in April he was seen gripping a table in a televised meeting with his defence minister Sergei Shoigu.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also quashed any health rumours about Putin as ‘nothing but fakes’.
The General SVR channel has long claimed that Putin is suffering from abdominal cancer, Parkinson’s disease and a schizoaffective disorder.
Its claims cannot be verified but it was among the first to report in advance the shape of Putin’s recent mobilisation strategy.
The channel is reportedly authored by an exiled Kremlin lieutenant-general, known by the alias Viktor Mikhailovich.
Speaking in Moscow’s Red Square, Putin on Friday said civilians should be taken out of Moscow-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine, where Russian forces have been leading evacuations since mid-October as Kyiv’s forces advance.
‘Those who live in Kherson should be removed from zones of dangerous fighting,’ the Russian president told young volunteers from the occupied Ukrainian territories.
‘The civilian population should not suffer from shelling, an offensive, a counter-offensive or other such things,’ he said.
The Russian army later said it was evacuating ‘more than 5,000 civilians’ from the Kherson region each day.
Moscow’s occupation authorities in Kherson say they have helped tens of thousands leave the region and have vowed to turn Kherson city into a ‘fortress’.
Putin was speaking to volunteers involved in helping people leave Kherson, in remarks made after laying flowers at a monument honouring those who fought off a Polish invasion in 1612.
He said Moscow had mobilised 318,000 recruits since he announced a military call-up in September, which has since been completed.
‘We already have 318,000 (mobilised),’ Putin said.
That exceeded his target of 300,000 because ‘volunteers keep coming’, he added.
The Kremlin chief said he wanted to restore historical monuments in the occupied territories so that those ‘who lived under crazy, idiotic propaganda for 30 years’ would know ‘where their ancestors came from.’
He singled out the port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea, which was flattened by weeks of battles over its steelworks, which fell into Russian hands in May.
‘Mariupol is a very famous – an ancient, you could say – Russian city,’ Putin said.
‘Peter the Great, as is well known, founded his first military flotilla there, had his first victories there,’ he said of the 17th-century tsar.
General Alexander ‘Suvorov had his steppe campaigns there, and Catherine the Second built up these lands,’ he added.
‘There is a lot to work on,’ he said, referring to reconstruction plans.
Source: Read Full Article