The Kremlin is denying reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin suffered a serious medical episode this week and was found on the floor of his bedroom.
Sky News Australia, citing a Telegram post by a group called General SVR claiming to have classified intelligence on Putin’s health, reported Monday that he had collapsed in his bedroom on Sunday evening.
Other Western news outlets — including the U.K.’s Express and Mirror — also reported the claims from General SVR.
Putin, 71, suffered from cardiac arrest and fell to the floor, alerting his security team, the group said.
Sky News reported Putin was allegedly found in the room “convulsively arched while lying on the floor, rolling his eyes.”
“The doctors, who were on duty at the residence in one of the adjacent rooms, were immediately called,” General SVR said, according to the report. “Doctors performed resuscitation, having previously determined that the president was in cardiac arrest.
“Help was provided on time, the heart was started, and Putin regained consciousness.”
The group said the Russian leader’s inner circle fears he is on the “brink of death,” according to Sky News.
But according to the Kremlin, the report is false.
It also attempted to dispel rumors that Putin, whose health has been questioned, has been staying out of sight and using a body double.
“Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a Russian Telegram channel in reference to the report Putin suffered a health episode, Reuters reported.
Peskov also said claims that Putin has used a body double have made him “smile.”
“This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity,” he said. “This evokes nothing but a smile.”
As Newsweek noted, since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, rumors about Putin’s health have been plentiful but not confirmed.
The leader has been said to have suffered from ailments from terminal cancer to Parkinson’s disease.
Russian officials have denied claims Putin is struggling at every turn — including a report last winter, also courtesy of General SVR, that the Russian leader fell down a flight of stairs and soiled himself.
One intelligence expert told Newsweek in February that he believes reports of Putin’s apparent coming death might be a product of “wishful thinking.”
“I’m deeply skeptical that Putin has some health problems likely to lead to his imminent death or incapacitation,” said Mark Galeotti of the London-based consultant firm Mayak Intelligence.
“There is a great deal of rumor, propaganda and wishful thinking in play,” Galeotti said.
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