Russian President Vladimir Putin uses hand to stop shaky leg during 2-hour sit-down interview with Tucker Carlson as questions around 71-year-old leader's health swirl

By Rachel Bowman For Dailymail.Com 

Daily Mail

February 8, 2024

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Russian President Vladimir Putin had to control his wandering leg during his interview with Tucker Carlson - amid rumors that his health is on the decline.

In the two-hour interview with the former Fox News host released Thursday, Putin had to use his hand to calm his leg and stop it from moving.

The 71-year-old Russian president also coughed and cleared his throat several times while making bombshell claims such as Russia has superior 'supersonic missiles' to every other nation and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is a 'spy.'

Some critics questioned Putin's health ahead of the interview when the leader was pictured making grimaces during a meeting with Belarusian President Lukashenko on January 28, saying he appeared confused.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied rumors that Putin has serious health problems such as suffering cardiac arrest in the fall or that he has cancer and uses body doubles. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had to use his hand to calm his jittery leg and stop it from moving

The 71-year-old Russian president also coughed and cleared his throat several times while making bombshell claims during the talk

In October, the General SVR Telegram channel, which regularly alleges Putin is terminally ill with cancer, alleged he suffered a 'cardiac arrest.' 

The channel said all recent appearances by the Russian dictator, including foreign visits, have been by a body double or doubles.

It claimed that doctors resuscitated Putin and he was taken to a special intensive care facility at his official residence.

'Doctors performed resuscitation, having previously determined that the president was in cardiac arrest,' reported the channel. 'Help was provided on time, the heart was started and Putin regained consciousness.'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, 'Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake [rumor].'

'These [kinds of stories] belong to the category of fake news, discussed with enviable tenacity by a number of media outlets. This brings nothing but a smile [in the Kremlin].' 

Some critics questioned Putin's health ahead of the interview when the leader was pictured making grimaces during a meeting with Belarusian President Lukashenko on January 28

In October, the General SVR Telegram channel, which regularly alleges Putin is terminally ill with cancer, alleged he suffered a 'cardiac arrest'

When Putin made a surprise visit to the city of Derbent in southern Russia just days after the failed Wagner rebellion in June, his interactions led some to believe he was using a body double.

In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, leaked spy documents claimed Putin had early-stage Parkinson's disease and pancreatic cancer.

The leaked documents allegedly read: 'I can confirm he has been diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson's disease, but it's already progressing. This fact will be denied in every possible way and hidden. 

'Putin is regularly stuffed with all kinds of heavy steroids and innovative painkilling injections to stop the spread of pancreatic cancer he was recently diagnosed with.

'It not only causes a lot of pain, Putin has a state of puffiness of the face and other side effects - including memory lapses.'

Despite questions surrounding the 71-year-olds health, many people on X, formerly known as Twitter, thought the Russian president appeared in good health during his interview with Carlson.

One user named Calvin said, 'Didn’t they say Putin had cancer and was in very poor health? Seems pretty good to me.'

'Putin sure does look healthy to me. What about all that chatter about his health,' said user Rick Teed.