Kremlin brushes off speculation over Putin’s health
Russian President (then premier) Vladimir Putin is examined by a traumatologist at the Smolensk hospital, 25 August 2011. | AFP PHOTO/RIA-NOVOSTI/POOL/ALEXEY DRUZHININ/FILE
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has confirmed the Kremlin leader is suffering from an old sports trauma, but dismissed media speculation that Putin’s state of health is affecting his work schedule, local press reported.
“We have repeatedly said that such ideas do not have any foundation,” Peskov said. “There was an old injury; we already talked about it in Vladivostok. It is not even old, it’s an ordinary sports trauma – Putin strained a muscle then,” he noted. “Any sportsman gets injured but this is not a reason for restricting activities.”
The comment came after media reports suggested that Putin’s state of health had deteriorated, pointing to the fact that the Russian President had cancelled several foreign trips and his visits to Moscow from his suburban residence have become less frequent.
Putin also cancelled a trip in October to Siberia to open the new Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal peninsula. Instead, Putin inaugurated the field on 23 October in Moscow in a live link-up with the remote region.
A summit of leaders of ex-Soviet states in Turkmenistan has been postponed to December after the Russian Preident indicated that he would not be able to come in November.
Peskov agreed that Putin’s trips to Moscow have become rarer, but said the president did not want to aggravate the complicated transport situation as he comes to the city in his motorcade. Besides, currently there are no current ceremonial events that would require Putin’s presence, he added.
As for the allegedly cancelled foreign visits, Peskov explained that the earlier-reported dates had never received official confirmation.
Peskov added that Putin will make several foreign visits in December, such as official trips to India and Turkey and the Russia-EU summit in Brussels.
Putin has carved out a macho image with sporting stunts that included piloting a Formula 1 car and a hang-glider flight with Siberian cranes to guide them on their winter migration path. He is also frequently shown on Russian television in his favourite sport judo. Peskov denied the injury was caused by Putin's hang-glider flight, a stunt ridiculed by bloggers at the time, which also led to media speculation that he hurt his back. NEW EUROPE
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