PARIS, June 17 — Baths in blood extracted from the antlers of Siberian deer. Excrements scooped up by loyal officials to evade analysis. Mysterious absences for emergency medical treatment.
The most in-depth investigation into Putin’s health was published in April by the Russian-language news site Proekt, which used open-source data to conclude that the president’s trips to the southern resort city of Sochi were synchronised with those of a large number of doctors. Visiting world leaders who did not accept the Kremlin’s stringent conditions — such as French President Emmanuel Macron and UN chief Antonio Guterres — were banished to the end of a now notoriously long table.
Huge efforts appear to have been made to protect Putin. In his 2020 annual news conference only a handful of reporters — quarantined and tested beforehand — were allowed in the room with him, while others massed in another hall.