Rumours surrounding Russian President Vladimir Putin's health have further intensified after the leader spluttered and retched during a meeting broadcast on Thursday.
Speculation that Putin is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer has remained at the focus of media attention for some time now.
The 69-year-old looked dazed and bloated as he sat across from defence giant Sergey Chemezov, whose company Rostec builds an array of military hardware.
READ MORE: 'Body doubles' believed to be on alert to stand in for Putin as he undergoes 'cancer surgery'
The clip, broadcast on Russian state TV, shows the leader with his chin resting on his chest and hands gripping the table during the talks with his former KGB pal.
At several points in the video, Putin is seen retching and seems unable to speak properly, as the Mirror UK reports.
The news comes after a secret recording of a conversation between a Putin-aligned oligarch and a Western businessman revealed the president is "very ill with blood cancer" last week.
However, the Kremlin has publically stated that Putin is fit and well, denying any claims of ill health.
But his strict precautions during the pandemic and use of a long table to meet other political leaders have strengthened rumours.
One oncologist has claimed that Putin's decision to wage war in Ukraine is due to a cancer-related cognitive impairment.
The latest of many claims suggest he is suffering from cancer and undergoing chemotherapy and steroid treatment.
Other reports suggest Putin is suffering from Parkinson's or early-stage dementia, but numerous experts believe he may have started cancer treatment before the war began, and so he is suffering from the effects of chemotherapy.
The condition is officially called cancer-related cognitive impairment and causes the patient to "lose focus" and struggle to remember simple things.
It can also give people the ability to make "crazy" decisions without cogently thinking them through.
An ex-Brit spy also believes Putin's decision-making in Ukraine has been affected by an illness.
Christopher Steele, who ran the Russia desk at MI6 in London between 2006 and 2009 and worked there in the 1990s, said he had heard the president was not well.
He told Sky News: "Certainly, from what we're hearing from sources in Russia and elsewhere, is that Putin is, in fact, quite seriously ill.
"It's not clear exactly what this illness is - whether it's incurable or terminal, or whatever. But certainly, I think it's part of the equation."
And Steele's comments came after a Ukrainian general echoed the rumour while adding a plan is already underway in Russia to oust him.
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