Russian Doctor Gives Putin Surprise Diagnosis

A Russian doctor gave President Vladimir Putin a surprise diagnosis on Wednesday during his first visit to Chukotka in the country's Far East.

The assessment was made after Putin arrived in Anadyr, the capital of the Chukotka region, by Chukotka District Hospital head of department Denis Kloss. The Russian leader is on his first regional trip of the year.

Putin's health has been the subject of rumor for years. In October 2023, hundreds of thousands of Russians searched for information on the country's most popular search engine Yandex after an unfounded rumor that Putin had suffered a cardiac arrest made headlines around the globe.

Kloss assessed Putin's condition as "excellent."

"Cheerful voice, cheerful gait. How he represents thought: it is accessible, it is understandable. There are no other political leaders overseas even close," Russia's state run news agency RIA Novosti reported Kloss as saying.

The doctor advised Putin to get more rest, saying that it plays a major role in longevity.

He also compared the 71-year-old's health favourably with that of President Joe Biden.

"Age has a colossal impact on [Biden]. Even though he seems to have a healthy lifestyle and diet, age has definitely taken its toll," the doctor said.

Putin told residents of Anadyr that he devotes two to two and a half hours to sports daily.

"At least two hours, sometimes a little more, because there's a gym, a swimming pool, all this together, a shower, two and a half hours," he said, adding thatphysical education should be a part of life.

"At least an hour, at least half an hour. Every person should know that he must devote time to this," the Russian president said.

"This is one of the most important social indicators of the development of society," he added.

Sharing his "secret" to a healthy life, Putin said: "You need to love the work you do. That's what I love."

Putin is on an election tour around Russia ahead of the country's 2024 presidential election, which is scheduled to be held on March 17. Under constitutional changes made prior to the war in Ukraine, Putin may remain in power until 2036.

Putin announced in December that he would be running for re-election. If successful, it would be his fifth term as Russian president.

In 2023 Agentstvo, a Russian investigative site, found that the search terms "dead Putin," "dying Putin" and "Putin died" had received more than 417,000 hits, with queries about Putin's alleged death appearing in the top 12 queries containing his name.

The rumor about Putin's cardiac arrest and death emerged after a Telegram post by Russian gossip channel General SVR on October 26 stated that Putin had died at his residence in Valdai at "20:42 p.m. Moscow time," sparking "a coup d'état in Russia."

The Telegram account, which has nearly half a million subscribers, claims to have insider information from the Kremlin, but has published misinformation on multiple occasions. The channel's author is anonymous.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the claim that Putin had died was "just another hoax," and that "everything is fine."

Update 01/10/24, 10:58 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.

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