Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six
The Kremlin has dismissed the claim Vladimir Putin is unwell as an “absurd hoax” and said “everything is fine” with the dictator.
“This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity. This evokes nothing but a smile,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
On Sunday, posts emerged on the Telegram messaging app claiming Putin had suffered a cardiac arrest. The channel said Putin was “very ill” and unlikely to live until the end of autumn, with all official meetings conducted by a body double.
It comes after Ukraine launched an “underwater sabotage” attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet near Sevastopol, Crimea, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of the region.
Soon after, Russia’s defence ministry said it had destroyed three unmanned Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea off the Crimean peninsula.
“Anti-sabotage missiles and bombs hit the area where the unmanned boats were detected,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has pushed more troops to the frontline in Avdiivka, Ukraine, despite a failing offensive which has incurred heavy losses.
