For approximately 20 years, multiple sources have regularly reported that the president of Russia Vladimir Putin is weeks or months away from death or medical incapacity.
[2][3][1] According to the New Statesman, many such allegations are based on "the old Soviet-era practice of Kremlinology, in which analysts scrutinise the leader's public appearances for signs of physical decline and clues as to who might be in favour or out, in the absence of reliable information".
[5] Mainstream media outlets in the United States reported that Vladimir Putin might be seriously ill due to complications from a secret cosmetic surgery procedure it was claimed he'd undergone.
[6] The rumors originated after the Russian president postponed a scheduled meeting from 11 to 18 March, as well as analysis of background objects in official photographs by Russia observers.
[6] Asked to comment on the report Putin was dying of surgery complications, the Brookings Institution's Hannah Thoburn said "for all we know, he probably has the flu, or just wanted to hang out with his daughters or something".
[10] Neurologists have previously noted that several Russian officials such as Anatoly Sidorov and Sergei Ivanov who, like Putin, have specialized training by Soviet-era military and intelligence services and typically make limited use of their right arm, often holding it unnaturally stiff to the side of the torso in what is called gunslinger's gait.