media report on state of Putin’s well being

Within the run-up to presidential elections in Russia, some journalists determined to analyse the state of Vladimir Putin‘s well being as he prepares to run for a fifth time period and rule Russia till at the very least 2030. They concluded that the Russian president is exhausted and behaving bizarrely.

Supply: Proekt (The Venture), a Russian information outlet engaged in investigative journalism

Quote from Proekt: “To chop a protracted story quick, he isn’t a corpse from the fridge [as political analyst Valery Solovei claimed when he reported Putin’s death in Valdai on 26 October on Telegram – ed.]. However he’s very uninterested in his personal folks.”

Particulars: The journalists analysed all of the occasions involving the Russian dictator over the previous 12 months and concluded that Putin spent solely 147 days in public (i.e. lower than 5 months out of 12).

January was the month by which Putin spent the least period of time in public: a mere seven days. For the remainder of the time, Putin stayed in his residence, and no journalists – or anybody apart from officers near him and constant politicians – had been invited to satisfy him.

The journalists observed that the president tends to alternate between bursts of intense public exercise and lengthy intervals of absence. For instance, Putin held 4 essential public occasions on 28 September 2023, however over the earlier six days, nobody however his closest associates had seen him. Putin appeared in public on 29 September, however no person noticed him once more for the following 4 days (till 3 October).

Conferences with Putin have not too long ago been held remotely

PHOTO: THE KREMLIN WEBSITE

Proekt additionally factors out that lots of the experiences of Putin’s cupboard conferences that the Kremlin launched throughout these 10 private days look “canned” [i.e. filmed in advance by the Russian president’s personal cameraman and released by the Kremlin press service on Putin’s days off – ed.].

The journalists additionally spotlight a number of unusual anomalies: at many conferences, Putin appears to maintain his distance from different folks, whereas on different events, he really goes into the gang.

Putin attended 43% of occasions remotely final 12 months. One other 36% of conferences required all attendees to be quarantined.

521 public occasions involving Vladimir Putin from November 2022 to October 2023

43% contain distancing

36% contain quarantine

21% Putin interacts with folks with no quarantine

INFOGRAPHICS: PROEKT. Putin’s interplay with folks

“This distancing generally takes on fairly astonishing varieties. We discovered that at many boards, a fence is actually put up in entrance of the president on stage, separating the top of state from the viewers. And out of doors, Putin’s interlocutors are compelled to face behind a specifically drawn pink line over 10 metres away from him,” Proekt experiences.

A fence on the St Petersburg Worldwide Financial Discussion board, June 2023

PHOTO: PROEKT’S WEBSITE

Putin making a speech to staff on the Zvezda shipyard. Putin is standing 10 metres away from the viewers

INFOGRAPHIC: PROEKT’S WEBSITE

And but a fifth (21%) of all occasions involving Putin happened with none distance or quarantine, for instance, conferences with worldwide guests or following dramatic occasions.

The media outlet notes that Putin, who had not been seen in public because the begin of the epidemic, first spoke in regards to the significance of individuals just some days after the failed June coup by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Putin interacting ‘carefully’ with the general public after Prigozhin’s failed coup.

PHOTO: KREMLIN.RU

The story’s authors observed that this at all times occurs so unexpectedly that many individuals, together with some journalists within the Kremlin circle, have began to imagine that the president has a physique double.

“Proekt additionally remembers an incident that occurred within the Kremlin on 5 April 2023. Throughout a ceremony by which overseas ambassadors had been presenting their credentials, Putin fell right into a state of confusion as he was delivering his speech, after which failed to understand for a while whether or not the ambassadors had been going to return as much as him and current their credentials.

He was clearly at a loss as to what to do, and was trying over his papers in bewilderment. There was nobody to assist the president as he stood alone on one aspect of the Kremlin’s huge Alexander Corridor, with the ambassadors, together with International Minister Sergei Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, on the opposite. The pinnacle of state requested Lavrov desperately for assist. However he wanted a microphone in order that the minister may hear him. So everybody heard the president’s query: ‘Is that it?’ When the minister nodded, the president introduced an early finish to the occasion.” That is how Proekt describes the occasions of that day.

Studies counsel that the individuals who spend essentially the most time with Putin are his bodyguards, docs, and the “nuclear briefcase” carriers.

For instance, throughout each main occasion, equivalent to Putin’s assembly with North Korean chief Kim Jong-un, seven or eight folks making certain his safety could be seen within the rapid neighborhood of the Russian president. The journalists have managed to establish many of those folks.

A number of docs at the very least accompanied the Russian president when he went to satisfy Kim Jong-un in April 2019. A few of them seem in a single photograph, together with ENT physician Igor Yesakov, oncologist Yevgeny Selivanov and neurologist Roman Rotankov.

1. Igor Yesakov, ENT physician. 2. Dmitry Shumeiko, “nuclear briefcase” holder; 3. Yevgeny Selivanov, oncologist; 4. Roman Rotankov, neurologist

PHOTO: PROEKT’S WEBSITE

Background:

• On 7 December, experiences emerged that Russian presidential elections will take place on 17 March.

• Earlier, Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s press secretary, claimed that he had “little question that Putin will win” the election. The official additionally added that Russia’s subsequent chief could be “the identical” as Vladimir Putin or “somebody different, but still the same as Putin“.

• Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Basis has introduced the launch of its Russia Without Putin campaign and urged Russians to make use of the time earlier than the election to talk out towards the dictator. [Navalny is considered to be the leader of the Russian opposition, although he is known for his remarks in favour of Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian Crimea – ed.]

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