Putin’s manic body movements at meeting as health rumours grow

17.05.2022 - 15:17 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Vladimir Putin has been seen manically shuffling his feet and looking frail during a meeting with a head of state, while a body language expert claims he looks “astonishingly weakened”.

The Kremlin leader continuously tapped his feet during a recording of a meeting in Moscow with Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon.

The under fire leader was seen erratically moving his left foot around before doing the same with his right foot, reported the Express.

At the same time he was using one arm to securely grip the arm of the chair where he was sitting.

It comes amid constant rumours about his alleged ill health with some reports that he is suffering from cancer.

His face is looking bloated suggesting that he could be taking steroids, it has been repeatedly claimed, according to Mirror Online.

And last month he was seen slouching and tightly gripping a table during a televised meeting with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Now Professor Erik Bucy, a body language expert from Texas Tech University, says he no longer looks the leader who prided himself on appearing physically strong.

“It’s an astonishingly weakened Putin compared to the man we observed even a few years ago,” he told The Sun.

On May 9 at the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, he also cut a grey and frail figure who had a blanket on his lap while he sat in the stands watching the display.

Former head of the British Army Lord Dannatt said Putin looked “puffy” and did not appear to be “moving freely”.

Lord Dannatt told Sky News: “I was really just commenting on how President Putin looked. He doesn’t seem to be moving as freely and as easily as one has seen him do to in the past.

“I think we’ve all commented that, actually, he looked pretty puffy around the face.