Does Putin have Parkinson's disease?
There is definitely something going on with the health of Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin. This was, it seems, particularly evident in a stage-managed appearance with his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu put on for the cameras yesterday in the Kremlin.
Watch the video below to see for yourself.
Putin's meeting with Shoigu today shows both depressed & seemingly in bad health. Shoigu has to read his comments to Putin & slurs badly, suggesting that the rumors of his heart attack are likely. He sits badly. Poor performance. Worth watching.https://t.co/SHRRxZxbJf
— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) April 21, 2022
Former MI6 (British Intelligence) chief Sir Richard Dearlove, discussed this theory with an Australian news platform, one that intelligence services have taken very seriously:
Several years ago it was suggested Mr. Putin had the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
"That led to a group of one or two very distinguished neurologists examining very carefully all the recent tapes of Putin being interviewed," Sir Richard said.
"The suggestion that's come out of that, which is being taken pretty seriously in the UK, but of course it is speculative, is that there are clear signs, possibly of Parkinson's.
"I don't understand the detailed medical analysis, but I know that two symptoms, one is loss of restraint, and the other is psychosis.
"And then there's a third factor, which is Putin's appearance, which indicates that he might well be on steroids.
"That is, I gather, one of the standard treatments if you have got Parkinson's, which is pretty worrying.
"I mean, if we're dealing with someone who isn't behaving rationally because of a medical condition. But I don't think we can do more than speculate on that at the moment."
Here, Putin's actions in Ukraine are seen in light of such a health condition and the cognitive challenges it brings with it. And similar symptoms were observed back in 2020, as British tabloid The Sun reported:
Observers who studied recent footage noted his legs appeared to be in constant motion and he looked to be in pain while clutching the armrest of a chair.
His fingers are also seen to be twitching as he held a pen and gripped a cup rumoured to contain a cocktail of painkillers.
As Newsweek reports:
On April 1, the Russian news outlet Proekt published an investigative story that claimed Putin is routinely seen by a team of doctors. The site alleged that two ear, nose, and throat specialists have regularly visited Putin, as has an oncology surgeon who specializes in thyroid cancer. Proekt's report also alleged that Putin had been using an alternative therapy that involves bathing in blood extract from severed deer antlers.
If Russian news sources can get away with reporting such claims in the present climate, we can rest assured that something is amiss.
If he does have a terminal and/or progressive condition, this could go some way to explaining his state of mind and the radical decisions he has been making.
And let's be clear: the fact that the prime source material for this theory has been tabloid newspapers doesn't mean it's not true. Something explains this data. I would suggest—being one who works hard every day to minimize and disguise my own progressive illness symptoms—that Putin having Parkinson's is a theory with good explanatory power and scope. What do you think?