The Kremlin said that Vladimir Putin “played hockey” over the weekend, dismissing rumors that the Russian President may be secretly ill.
Less than a day has passed without new speculation about the Russian leader’s health and well-being since his country invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine live news: The first Russian ship was destroyed by a Western javelin missile
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov told NBC News on Monday: “I can tell you one thing that yesterday, I know, in the afternoon, he was playing hockey. That was yesterday. past, he was playing hockey, and then think about your own health.”
Vladimir Putin during a friendly ice hockey match in Strelna, Russia, in December 2021
Observers have speculated about how the Russian leader looks during meetings – including whether he limps, shakes, clutching tables in pain – or if he has a face Puffiness may indicate evidence of steroid use, or even botox due to useless fame.
Mr. Peskov called rumors about the president’s health ridiculous and denied many times that he was terminally ill, as has been suggested in some reports.
Pressed by NBC News senior international correspondent Keir Simmons to address the rumors once and for all, Putin’s spokesman pointed to the president’s lengthy speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last week to dispel popular speculations about his health.
He said Putin spoke for three and a half hours, before engaging in a panel discussion.
“Just think, if an unhealthy man can perform the same,” he said.
The President of Russia delivers a speech during the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Friday
With the war now entering its 17th week, Russia’s attacks are largely focused on eastern Ukraine with the declared goal of “liberating” the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that together make up the Donbas.
Russian-backed separatists control parts of the regions and the Russian president wants them completely in pro-Russian hands.
If his forces capture Severodonetsk, it will give Moscow full control of Luhansk – and will be his biggest victory of the invasion to date.
Giving an update on the resistance that held back Russia’s larger offensive in Donbas, Serhiy Hayday, the governor of Luhansk, said Russian forces controlled most of Severodonetsk, with the exception of the factory. Azot chemical, where more than 500 civilians, including 38 children, have been sheltered for weeks.
He added that the road connecting Severodonetsk and Lysychansk to the city of Bakhmut was under constant shelling.
“The coming hours will bring significant changes to the balance of forces in the region,” said Rodion Miroshnik, an official in the self-styled separatist government of the Luhansk People’s Republic on Telegram.
But according to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces fought back against Russia in the Black Sea.
The British Ministry of Defense said that President Putin’s navy had been “largely neutralized” by Ukraine’s coastal defense forces in terms of its ability to control the Black Sea.
“Ukrainian forces claim to have successfully used Western-funded Harpoon anti-ship missiles for the first time against Russian maritime forces,” they said in their latest Twitter update.
“The target of the attack was almost certainly the Russian navy tugboat Spasatel Vasily Bekh, which was transferring weapons and personnel to Snake Island in the northwest Black Sea.
Russian navy tugboat Vasiliy Bekh poses for a photo in the Bosphorus, en route to the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, on January 7, 2022
“The destruction of a Russian ship during a resupply mission shows the difficulty Russia faces when trying to support its forces occupying Snake Island.
“This is the latest in a series of Russian ships, including the cruiser Moskva, destroyed by Ukraine during the conflict.”
The United States and its European allies have provided arms and financial support to Ukraine but avoided direct involvement in the conflict.
