Vladimir Putin, 68, ‘stepping down as Russian president early next year amid fears he has Parkinson’s’
VLADIMIR Putin is planning to quit early next year amid growing fears for his health, Moscow sources claimed last night.
Kremlin watchers said recent tell-tale footage showed the 68-year-old strongman has possible symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.
And informed analysts claimed that the Russian president’s glamorous ex-gymnast lover Alina Kabaeva, 37 – once dubbed ‘Russia’s most flexible woman’ – is begging him to release his grip on power.
Observers who studied recent footage of Putin noted his legs appeared to be in constant motion and he looked to be in pain while clutching the armrest of a chair.
His fingers are also seen to be twitching as he held a pen and gripped a cup believed to contain a cocktail of painkillers.
Speculation that his 20-year-reign – second only to that of Stalin – could be nearing an end grew earlier this week when laws were drafted to make him a senator-for-life when he resigns.
Legislation introduced by Putin himself was being rushed through parliament to guarantee him legal immunity from prosecution and state perks until he dies.
Moscow political scientist Professor Valery Solovei fuelled further speculation last night by suggesting Putin may have symptoms of Parkinson’s.
The academic said he also understood Putin’s undisclosed partner Alina was pressuring him to quit – along with his daughters Maria Vorontsova , 35, Katerina Tikhonova, 34.
Solovei said: “There is a family, it has a great influence on him. He intends to make public his handover plans in January”.
The professor predicted that Putin would soon appoint a new prime minister who would be groomed to become his eventual successor.
And back in 2015, a team of researchers at he Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands headed by Professor Bas Bloem identified signs in Putin’s gait which could point to Parkinson’s.
The researchers spotted how the Russian strongman walks with his left arm unmoving, almost pinned to his side, while his right arm swings freely.
Pictures of the President giving speeches also show him with his right arm resting casually an a lectern, with his left straight by his side.
The peer-reviewed research says a walk that shows a marked reduction in arm swing on just one side can sometimes be a symptom of Parkinson’s disease, says
But the team also pointed out it could be a “gunslingers walk”, with KGB agents trained to keep their weapons tightly pinned to their left-hand side.
However, the president’s staff have repeatedly played down rumours that he is paving the way for a political exit.
And the Kremlin today insisted Putin was in “excellent health” and “everything is fine with the President”.
A spokesperson dismissed claims of Parkinson’s disease as “nonsense”.
And Putin himself has regularly released pictures of him looking fit and toned in Action Man poses hunting, shooting, horse riding and playing ice hockey.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the senator-for-life move: : “This is the practice that is being applied in many countries of the world, and it is quite justified.
“This is not innovation from the point of view of international practice.”
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