First Published:
11:36 AM PDT, June 21, 2022
A spokesperson for the Kremlin is laughing off suggestions that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously ill, according to the New York Post.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov shot down any reports of Putin’s health after NBC News’ Keir Simmons showed clips in an interview with the Russian diplomat of the country’s president “limping, shaking and gripping a table.”
Peskov brushed off any notion of Putin being unwell after he explained that the Russian president answered questions for more than three hours on Friday.
“Just think, if an unhealthy man can perform like that,” he told NBC News.
Peskov even doubled down on his comments to NBC News, saying that Putin, who turns 70 later this year, played hockey over the weekend.
“I can tell you one thing that yesterday, I know, in the afternoon, actually he played hockey. It’s about yesterday, he was playing hockey, and then think about his health by yourself,” he said.
Peskov has denied many times that Putin is seriously ill, according to Sky News.
Speculation about the Russian leader’s health has surfaced in recent months following his country’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Despite images of Putin surfacing over the years of him playing hockey or riding a horse bare-chested or enjoying the Russian outdoors, seldom is known about his health and personal life as he has kept it as shrouded in secrecy as he can, France 24 reports.
Reports of Putin suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s disease or early-stage dementia, have been laughed off by him and his officials, the New York Post reported.
