New footage appears to show Vladimir Putin suffering from health problems as he continues to make chilling threats to the West.
The video shows the Kremlin leader gripping his desk amid fresh claims he is suffering from “intensified pain in his abdomen”.
The Telegram channel General SVR - which frequently highlights Putin’s supposed medical problems and claims to have Kremlin insiders - also claimed the Russian president was suffering at the meeting.
The meeting was between Putin and his loyalist lieutenant Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
“The meeting was supposed to demonstrate the excellent health of the participants and their ‘strong handshake’,” said a new post on General SVR.
It continued: “It didn't work out very well. Putin, on the background of undergoing urgent therapy, does not feel well, and recently he has again intensified pain in his abdomen, which is not always possible to completely stop.”
It claimed that Putin was “twisted from pain, [and] convulsively grabs the table with his hand. And this is on the official Kremlin recording, where the best and most successful shots are used."
It also claimed that in many current events, Putin is using a body double, an actor who has undergone plastic surgery to appear identical to the 70-year-old ruler.
There is no independent proof this is happening but such tactics were used regularly by Soviet leaders.
Puffy-faced Kadyrov, a Colonel-General in the Russian national guard, lauded Putin, who ten days earlier had mysteriously hosted the Chechen leader’s son Akhmet, 17, alone in the Kremlin.
Putin asked a fawning Kadyrov about progress in Chechnya, and he replied: “Everything is very good in the republic. Thanks to you.”
The claims came as the Russian dictator bemoaned the collapse of the Soviet Union, claiming “hordes of international terrorists” were sent to undermine his repressive rule.
His paranoid analysis came after he arrived many hours after he was expected in Ulan-Ude to visit an aircraft plant.
“For us, it is a struggle for the existence of Russian statehood itself,” he said.
The West wants to “shake” Russia - and “pull us apart in pieces”.
He told the carefully selected workers who asked tame questions: “That's what it's all about. So for us, this is not a geopolitical task, but the task of the survival of Russian statehood.
“Creating conditions for the future development of the country and our children – that is our task.
“In this regard, I would say that in order to bring peace and stability closer, we, of course, need to show consolidation of our society.”
