Vladimir Putin appeared in a virtual meeting of his security council with a “bloated head” that looked like it was Photoshopped onto his body, commentators said.
A claim said it looked as though the Russian President's head had been artificially attached to his body in manipulated footage.
The appearance came amid opposition claims that Putin is due to have surgery imminently.
Today he made an online appearance with security council members and also spoke by phone to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said the Kremlin .
One comment on his video appearance read: “His face and head look so bloated, especially his cheeks and around the back of his head.
“He looks photoshopped onto his body.
“It’s clearly him, but what a strange look.”
Another said: “Either his clothing is too tight around the neck, or he sits in an unfortunate position.
“But the layer of skin and fat over his neck looks really uncomfortable.”
Putin told Scholz about “the logic and primary objectives of the special military operation protecting the people's republics in Donbas and spoke about measures providing for the security of the civilian population”, reported Interfax.
He told the German leader that “civilians held by Ukrainian servicemen on the premises of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol had been evacuated with the participation of representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross."
And he sought to convince the German leader of “the ongoing flagrant violations of the norms of international humanitarian law and the inhumane terrorist methods applied by fighters adhering to Nazi ideology”.
