The rumours have spanned the gamut: Vladimir Putin is suffering from cancer or Parkinson’s disease, say unconfirmed and unverifiable reports, the Russian leader has survived a coup attempt or, as some tabloids think, he is already dead and has been replaced by a body double.
Photographs of Putin meeting top aides are inspected in microscopic detail: is he gripping the table in pain during a meeting with defence minister Sergei Shoigu in late April? Is his puffy face a sign of steroid use, as former foreign secretary Lord Owen claimed in March?
