A leaked conversation between a Russian oligarch close to the Kremlin and a contact in the West suggests Vladimir Putin is terminally ill.
In the secretly taped recording obtained by New Lines magazine, the unidentified oligarch, a close confidante of Putin, describes the Russian president as being “very ill with blood cancer”.
The revelation comes after months of speculation about the tyrant’s health following the invasion of Ukraine in February.
His face has become visibly puffy compared to what it was last year, which some experts say is the result of steroids being taken for a serious illness.
Putin’s hardman gait has also changed radically.
On Wednesday this week the 69-year-old missed an annual ice hockey match in Moscow in which he normally plays the starring role.
Most noticeably of all, recent footage inside the Kremlin shows him with severely shaking hands, and clutching at the side of a table as though to steady himself.
At the start of the invasion, when Western leaders like Emmanuel Macron tried to persuade Putin to halt his brutal war, he sat far apart from his visitors at the other end of a long table.
Insiders claim he is paranoid about picking up infections after self-isolation at the height of the pandemic.
Meanwhile a “top-secret memo” sent out by the headquarters of the FSB - Russia ’s domestic security agency - in March to all its regional directors instructed them not to listen to rumours about the President’s terminal condition.
The memo, however, is thought to have had the reverse effect, confirming widely-held suspicions.
Ashley Grossman, a professor of endocrinology at Oxford University, told New Lines: “Putin has always been a very fit-looking man with a slightly gaunt appearance. But over the last couple of years, he seems to have filled out in the face and neck. Cushingoid appearance, it’s called, and it’s compatible with steroid use.”
Today a Russian soldier accused of killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian appeared in court in Kyiv, ahead of the first war crimes trial since the start of the war.
Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was brought to court for a preliminary hearing, accused of killing an unarmed 62-year-old man.
Shishimarin, who confirmed that he was a Russian serviceman, faces possible life imprisonment on charges of war crimes and premeditated murder.
It comes as further details emerged of Russia’s disastrous attempt to cross a river in eastern Ukraine.
One military expert said he now believes up to 180 Russian soldiers were killed, and 80 vehicles were destroyed by defending Ukrainian forces.
Concerns are growing about the impact of Russia hoarding grain in captured areas of eastern Ukraine.
The seizure of regions which produce much of the grain Ukraine exports could have a major impact on global distribution.
Half of wheat cultivation land for winter is located in areas of intense fighting or are occupied by the Russian military.
