Russia has been forced to deny reports that Vladimir Putin fell down stairs and soiled himself last week.
Putin, 70, allegedly slipped coming down stairs at his Moscow home, bruised his tail-bone, and – because of the effects of colon cancer – ‘involuntarily defecated’, according to Telegram channel General SVR which claims links to his guards.
The Press and Information Office of the President of the Russian Federation, asked about the story, has now responded: ‘Regarding your request, we can say that this is completely untrue.’
General SVR has posted updates about Putin’s health since the start of the war in Ukraine, though has provided no evidence to support its claims or proof that it does indeed have connections within the presidential protection agents.
Newsweek was the publication that contacted the presidential press office, and said it had received the response on Tuesday.
General SVR wrote that Putin ‘stumbled and fell to his back, after which he fell on his side and slid down a couple of steps.
‘The incident took place in front of the president’s bodyguards, who reacted quickly and rushed to Putin’s aid.
‘Three security officers helped the president to get to the nearest sofa and called the doctors who are on duty at the residence.’
The channel said that medics ‘arrived within a few minutes, but could not immediately examine the president’.
This was due to him suffering ‘oncology of the gastrointestinal tract, as a result of which he already experiences serious problems with digestion’ – and the fall caused an ‘involuntary defecation’.
‘Before the examination, the doctors escorted the president to the bathroom and helped to clean up.’
The report said: ‘After a complete examination, a bruise of the coccyx and soft tissues was diagnosed.
‘Nothing critical was diagnosed and the bruising was treated with painkillers.
‘An investigation is to be carried out into what provoked the ‘fall’.
‘He wears special shoes, even at home, with anti-slip coating, and the stairs in the residence are considered ‘safe’.
‘As it turns out, all precautions are meaningless when nerves are at stake.’
Despite the reports, Putin was filmed and pictured touring a laboratory in Moscow the following day with no apparent signs of injury.
Speculation about Putin’s health has swirled ever since he ordered troops across Ukraine’s border on February 24.
He has appeared unsteady during public appearances, including unusual fidgeting with his hands and feet in meetings with other world leaders.
Ahead of one meeting with Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko early on during the war, his hand was seen shaking in an apparent sign of Parkinson’s.
Other images have shown him tightly gripping a table edge as if trying to steady his hand and stop a tremor.
His walk has also drawn suspicions because of an apparent limp.
Meanwhile Oliver Stone, a director who was given broad access to Putin for a 2017 documentary, also went on record to say he thought Putin had cancer but beat it.
Around the same time New Lines magazine claimed to have obtained a recording of a Russian oligarch – who they did not name – saying Putin was ‘ill with blood cancer’.
Just a month earlier, a Russian investigative website called Proekt said it had obtained documents that proved Putin travels with a large team of doctors.
Among them were a specialist in resuscitation, a specialist in treating violent trauma, and a cancer specialist.
The Russian president has also frequently vanished from public view for days at a time with no explanation ever offered.
In 2015, he went missing for 10 days, prompting some to go as far as suggesting he had died.
Putin then went missing in 2017 for eight days, before another two-day absence in 2018 during presidential election campaigning.
On that occasion, the Kremlin was forced to admit that the president had ‘a cold’.
The Kremlin has consistently denied reports the Putin is suffering poor health, particularly since the war in Ukraine began.
And no firm evidence has ever emerged to suggest his is seriously ill.
Bill Burns, director of the CIA, was asked at a security forum back in July about Putin’s health and denied there is anything wrong with him.
‘As far as we can tell, he’s entirely too healthy,’ Burns told reporters, though noted that was ‘not a formal intelligence judgment’.
