Vladimir Putin’s supposed ill health has been the subject of much speculation for months, particularly in light of his invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian President is thought to be suffering from cancer and is alleged to have already undergone surgery and started treatment - possibly even before the war started on February 24.
Some reports claim the despot warmonger, 69, also has Parkinson’s or early-stage dementia.
He has been looking increasingly more frail and bloated in the face in recent weeks.
Images of him sat with a blanket over his knees during the Victory Day parade earlier this month were far from the invincible hard man persona he likes to portray.
Meanwhile, Putin’s failure to attend key engagements and his disappearance during a state TV broadcast has further added fuel to the fire.
He is even reported to be considering parachuting his daughter into parliament as a new power-broker.
Katerina Tikhonova, 35, could be made new leader of United Russia, the main political party ruling the country amid Moscow swirling intrigue over the Kremlin succession.
That being said, a world-renowned body language expert has told the Mirror in recent days Putin suddenly has a “zip in his step”.
Dr Lillian Glass said “there is a change” in the leader which would indicate any potential surgery was a success.
"The surgery, whatever they took out seems to have worked,” she said.
The latest footage of him beaming at soldiers and walking very erect as he shakes hands confidently comes on the back of a contrasting appearance in a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
A clip of that, which was publicised earlier this week, shows him hunched over and twitching.
However, there is some speculation that that meeting took place some time ago and what was released was a pre-recording.
Other reports have also suggested the Kremlin used “deepfake” tech to pretend Putin was working at his desk while he recovered.
Trusted aide Nikolai Patrushev - a former FSB counter intelligence service chief and now security of Putin’s security council - is said to have been in effective temporary control.
Telegram channel General SVR, understood to be run by a former Kremlin intelligence officer, has said Putin underwent “successful” abdominal surgery last week.
The account claims the president had an op around May 16 and 17.
It added Putin’s attending physicians “insisted” he go under the knife as soon as possible.
General SVR pointed to the fact the former Kremlin intelligence officer had allegedly been absent “from the information space” and much of his inner circle between May 17 and 19 as further proof to line up the dates.
The account has, however, also said Putin’s ailments are incurable, and as well as cancer include Parkinson’s and a schizoaffective disorder.
They added the President “is certainly receiving the most advanced, most innovative treatment”.
Kroll Institute Fellow and Director of the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, Joshua Tucker told Newsweek that the question of whether Putin is sick or not "is likely a very tightly guarded secret and I suspect that very few people know the actual answer to this question."
Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele said Putin missed a security council meeting because he was having “some kind of medical treatment”.
While Russian scientist and historian Professor Valery Solovei said the president had emergency surgery in February.
Last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Putin had cancer when asked by Moscow Times journalist Alexei Venediktov.
His government has continually insisted the Russian leader is in good health.
