Copyright dailystar
A seemingly innocent handshake has once again sent the rumour mill into overdrive after Mad Vladimir Putin's bulging veins and twitchy fingers were spotted during a meeting with a young health campaigner. The 73-year-old Russian dictator met Yekaterina Leshchinskaya, 22, head of the Healthy Fatherland movement, to discuss a possible ban on e-cigarettes. But it was less the topic of conversation that caught viewers’ attention and more the state of Putin’s hands. As cameras rolled, the ageing autocrat reached out to shake the health activist’s hand . With it, he revealed thin, wrinkled skin, prominent tendons and veins protruding sharply across his right hand. At one point, he appeared to clench his fist under his blazer, a move that some have described as “nervous” or even “painful”. The footage quickly made its way onto X (formerly known as Twitter), before being picked up by Polish outlets and Ukrainian commentators who were quick to speculate about the President's condition. Ukrainian media personality Dmytro Gordon didn’t hold back, saying: “Putin clenches his hands into something resembling fists. They look swollen and sore, with veins bulging prominently on one hand.” The claims have fuelled long-running whispers that the Kremlin chief could be battling health problems, despite the regime’s insistence that he remains in “excellent form”. However, others have poured cold water on the speculation, suggesting it’s nothing more than the visible signs of ageing that many men in their seventies display. Yet, Mad Vlad hasn't been seen that much in public in recent weeks, which only raises more questions about his health. On October 8, he attended a summit in Tajikistan – his first visible engagement in weeks – followed shortly by the launch of nuclear war games on October 22, which he personally oversaw. Aside from these events, the Kremlin has remained largely silent on his movements, fuelling speculation. The Russian Government has repeatedly dismissed rumours about his health. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called earlier reports of a cardiac incident "absurd hoaxes", and similar claims in 2022 were swiftly denied after Putin cancelled a foreign trip, with officials insisting he remained in good health. Despite these assurances, observers remain sceptical and note the Kremlin has sometimes released footage of Putin's meetings months after they occurred, adding to the uncertainty around his public appearances. Health concerns intensified last August when Putin was spotted with a noticeable limp while descending from his aircraft to meet US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska. Eyewitnesses noted he had to pause midway down the steps of his official jet, and he appeared to grimace as he walked across the red carpet to greet the US president. One theory is that Putin may be battling some form of Parkinson's disease . Sir Richard Dearlove, former chief of MI6, addressed these concerns last year, noting persistent speculation about Putin's health could indeed be linked to a degenerative illness. He said: "I do not have a clear answer to that. But I have contacts and friends still in eastern Europe who think there is something fundamentally wrong with him medically. "It's probably Parkinson's, which of course has different representations, different variations, different seriousness." For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .
