The British daily Telegraph reported on the 21st (local time) that Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent public appearance showed signs of discomfort.



On the same day, President Putin encouraged Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to say that he had succeeded in occupying the key city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine.



What drew attention in this scene was none other than Putin's attitude.



Putin is seen hunched over, with a somewhat rigid expression on his face, holding the corner of the table in front of him tightly with his right hand.



He also did not let go of the end of the table he was holding on for a second throughout the meeting, and his feet were caught waving under him.



Because of this, speculation has re-emerged as to whether the health of President Putin, who is about to celebrate his 70th birthday in October this year, may have been compromised.



As the video went viral on social media, experts came up with an analysis that bolstered Putin's health anomalies.



British author and Conservative MP Louise Mensy has resurfaced his health anomalies by attaching a previous post in which Putin wrote that he may be hiding an illness.



"I previously wrote that Putin has Parkinson's disease, but if you watch the video, you can see him holding a table to hide his trembling hands," Mensy wrote.



Anders Oslund, a Swedish economist and former economic adviser to the Russian and Ukrainian governments, said both men in the video looked depressed and in poor health.



He pointed out that "Secretary Shoigu, who reports to President Putin, has a slurred pronunciation" and that "there seems to be a possible heart disease. His sitting posture is strange and his movements are not good."



Defense Minister Shoigu also did not appear in public for nearly two weeks last month, leading to observations that it may have caused health problems.



At the time, an aide told Russian media that he had heart problems and appeared to be ill.



Rumors of Putin's health abnormality have come up several times before.



His appearance was noticeably swollen in the face and neck, and there was also an analysis that he might have clouded his judgment during the invasion of Ukraine because he took an overdose of steroids to treat Parkinson's disease and cancer.



Earlier this month, Proact, a Russian investigative media outlet, reported that oncologists visited Putin consistently from 2016 to 2020.



The Kremlin has dismissed rumors of Putin's health problems.



Meanwhile, in the video released on the same day, it is also eye-catching that President Putin and Defense Minister Shoigu are sitting very close.



This is because Putin has been mostly seen sitting alone at the end of a very long meeting table, meeting with the cabinet members sitting opposite him.



(Photo = Twitter capture, Yonhap News)