- [Announcer] Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
- [Narrator] For more than two decades,
the Russian president
has been cultivating a strong man image.
(man falling)
He's a judo master
who rides horses, swims in a Siberian river
and scores goals in hockey against world champions.
(Vladimir clearing his throat)
But in the past few months,
that image has been challenged.
(Vladimir clearing his throat)
Recent footage of the 69-year-old leader
showed him coughing,
puffy faced or walking with a stiff right arm,
fueling speculation and questions
from the media about his health
after two years of pandemic isolation.
In late July, intelligence officers
shared their assessments.
- There's lots of rumors and as far as we can tell,
he's entirely too healthy.
(Vladimir clearing his throat)
- [Narrator] And the Kremlin has repeatedly said
he's doing well.
(Dmitry speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] So amid the war in Ukraine,
here's why Putin's every public appearance
is being so closely scrutinized.
First, consider that we're getting very little information
from Russia on the president's well-being.
- Good afternoon, everybody.
- [Narrator] Unlike the White House
that shares regular health updates for US leaders.
- President Biden is currently experiencing mild symptoms.
- [Narrator] The Kremlin is very tight lipped
on the matter.
(lively music)
So videos of a seemingly tired Putin sitting
at the Victory Day Parade
or holding the table with both hands
during this televised update about the war in Ukraine,
(Vladimir clearing his throat)
prompted comments by officials
and news outlets around the world about his fitness.
A top Ukrainian official told a TV channel
that the Russian leader was sick.
(Kyrylo speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] A Newsweek report claiming
that American spies believed Putin
had been treated for cancer was widely covered.
So journalists have been asking Russian officials about it.
(journalist speaking in foreign language)
(Sergei speaking in foreign language)
(cameras clicking)
- [Narrator] The Wall Street Journal
couldn't independently confirm those reports
and the leader of a European country told us
he believed Putin was healthy.
Still, observers noticed that when Putin landed in Tehran,
he seemed to walk stiffly
with his right arm hanging unnaturally.
(Vladimir clearing his throat)
He also repeated coughed
and cleared his throat during and after this trip,
so much so that he spoke about it himself.
(Vladimir speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] It's obviously hard to draw any conclusion
from this type of footage
but it puts Putin's health in the spotlight,
even making it a talking point at a major Security Forum
and prompting Western intelligence chiefs to weigh in.
- There's no evidence
that Putin is suffering from serious ill health.
(Vladimir speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] What footage from the past couple
of years does show clearly
is that the Russian leader appears
to take his physical well-being seriously.
That's what these extremely long meeting tables suggest.
In the early days of the pandemic,
Putin went into isolation in his residence outside Moscow.
During two years, he mostly communicated
with the outside world via video calls,
like most leaders around the world.
But even after he started attending more in-person events
during Russia's war with Ukraine,
most of the time, the public has been kept at a distance.
The same goes for officials and world leaders
who've often been seated far away from him.
This 16-feet-long table was seen several times,
during Putin's meeting with France's Emmanuel Macron
and Germany's Olaf Scholz, among others.
The Kremlin said it was keeping in place
all the safety measures
to protect the president from the coronavirus.
The health of world leaders
is always a matter of public concern.
False reports recently claimed
that the Ukrainian president
was in intensive care, for example.
(people cheering)
But for Russia, heightened scrutiny
of Putin's health also brings questions
about how the country would be governed
without its authoritative leader
at a time when he's at the center of global politics
over the invasion of Ukraine.
For decades, Moscow has worked hard
to create an aura around one man
as the country's main decision maker
who's believed to directly approve
almost all executive government decisions.
The Kremlin said that Putin's decision-making powers
are limited by the Russian constitution,
and the president's spokesman
has previously said Moscow isn't looking for a successor,
and that means any contingency plan
will likely remain a closely held secret.
(dramatic music)