Daily Archives: January 8, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin fell down the stairs and soiled himself this week amid mounting speculation that his health is declining, an anti-Kremlin Telegram channel with apparent links to his security team reported.

Putin, 70, suffered the unfortunate fall at his Moscow official residence on Wednesday evening, according to the Telegram channel General SVR, which purports to be run by a former Russian spy.

The ailing Russian leader allegedly fell down five steps before landing on his coccyx, or tailbone.

Although his security guards immediately rushed to his aid, the impact of the fall caused Putin to involuntarily defecate due to cancer affecting his stomach and bowels, according to the channel.

The incident is the latest health scare for Putin, who is rumored to suffering from worsening cancer and Parkinsons disease amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.

Three bodyguards helped the president get to the nearest couch and summoned medics, who are on duty at the residence, General SVR said.

Nothing critical [was diagnosed], the presidents condition closer to nighttime was stable, he can get around on his own, with pain in the coccyx area while sitting being the only thing that bothers him.

The post noted that a special investigation was being carried out to determine the cause of the presidents fall.

The famously-paranoid Russian leader reportedly wears slip-proof shoes, and stairs in the official residence had been deemed safe.

As it turns out, all precautions could be in vain when the nerves are shot, the message concluded.

Putin appeared to shake off the injury, and less than one day later was pictured touring a lab in Moscow.

Rumors about Putins alleged health woes have been rampant since the war with Ukraine began in February. On several occasions, the former KGB strongman has appeared weak and unsteady while in public.

In late October, Kyiv Post journalist Jason Jay Smart tweeted screenshots of Putin greeting soldiers at a boot camp in the Ryazan region, prompting speculation that the president had IV tracks on his hands.

A few weeks earlier, General SVR called out Putins shaky stance during a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Putins oncology is progressing and, despite adequate treatment lately, the pain is not always completely relieved, the channel claimed.

It must be understood that the deplorable state of the presidents physical and mental health affects the adoption of key decisions. Putin doesnt want to change history, he wants to end it.

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Putin fell down stairs, soiled himself amid health woes: report

Jan 7 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Saturday praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow's forces fighting in Ukraine in an Orthodox Christmas message designed to rally people behind his vision of modern Russia.

The Kremlin issued Putin's message after the Russian leader attended an Orthodox Christmas Eve service on his own inside a Kremlin cathedral rather than joining other worshippers in a public celebration.

In his message, accompanied on the Kremlin website by an image of him standing before religious icons, Putin made it clear he saw the Russian Orthodox Church as an important stabilising force for society at a time he has cast as a historical clash between Russia and the West over Ukraine and other issues.

"It is deeply gratifying to note the enormous constructive contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations in unifying society, preserving our historical memory, educating youth and strengthening the institution of family," said Putin.

"Church organisations prioritise ... supporting our warriors taking part in the special military operation (in Ukraine). Such massive, complex and truly selfless work deserves sincere respect."

On Friday, Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire for the celebrations, but Kyiv rejected it as Moscow's ploy to buy time and regroup and Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged artillery fire after the announcement.

Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, but the Russian Orthodox Church's backing for Moscow's war in Ukraine has angered many Ukrainian Orthodox believers and splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church.

Of 260 million Orthodox Christians in the world, about 100 million are in Russia itself and some of those abroad are in unity with Moscow.

Others are strongly opposed, however, and reject Moscow's assertion that its Feb. 24 invasion last year was an essential pre-emptive strike to defend its own security and that of Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Ukraine has about 30 million Orthodox believers, divided between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and two other Orthodox Churches, one of which is the autocephalous, or independent, Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In a service on Friday, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow criticised Ukraine for cracking down on the branch of the Orthodox church with longstanding ties to Moscow.

Reporting by Andrew OsbornAdditional reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Putin praises Russian Orthodox Church for backing troops in Ukraine ...

Russian President Vladimir Putins hands are starting to look black on top, said a former British army chief who doubled down on claims that the leader is receiving injections to battle serious illness.

Lord Richard Dannatt highlighted the sign that Putin is getting injections in a discussion about leaked Kremlin emails allegedly confirming that the 70-year-old warmongering leader has Parkinsons disease and pancreatic cancer.

Recent photos also appeared to show signs of numerous IV marks on Putins hands, which he often covers up at official engagements.

Keen observers now are noticing that his hands are looking pretty black on top, which is a sign of injections going in when other parts of the body cant take injections, Dannett told Sky News, according to The Sun, which first revealed the leaked emails.

Its interesting to note that, and just to watch whether he is as fit and well as he would like to portray, said Dannett, who was the UK Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009.

Its an interesting area to keep an eye on, he insisted.

Putin has faced escalating speculation over his health for years, with his hands regularly a supposed giveaway sign.

For months, he has been seen grabbing hold of tables while speaking, with his hands otherwise twitching. A recent propaganda video also appeared to show suspicious marks on Putins right hand as he was grasping a soldiers arm.

The Kremlin reportedly released a doctored version with numerous watermarks obscuring the view of the hand.

Online observers suggested it was a sign either of IV track marks or bulging veins from serious illness.

On Tuesday, The Sun reported that leaked Kremlin emails confirmed that Putin has already progressing Parkinsons disease as well as pancreatic cancer and is suspected of also having prostate cancer.

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, a Russian intelligence source wrote in the alleged leaked document.

But that is not the only reason Putin hides his hands hes also terrified of getting poisoned, the same outlet said.

At rare meetings with the public and journalists, Putin tries not to touch anything with his hands because he doesnt trust anyone, The Sun quoted a Russian security services insider as saying.

He afraid of being poisoned by touching objects if he drinks any liquid, all the bottles and glasses are immediately confiscated by his bodyguards and tested.

Even beyond his health, Putins leadership is weakening because of disastrous mistakes made during his war on Ukraine, western officials believe.

People are talking more about succession and imagining a life beyond Putin, a western official told The Times of London.

The Russian system is very opaque, but hes been weakened by this really catastrophic error, an official told the outlet.

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Putin's hands look 'black' in latest sign of serious illness

Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty

Vladimir Putin must go.

His demented Kremlin speech Friday, during a ceremony in which he feebly asserted Russia was annexing portions of Ukraine, made the strongest case for the necessity of regime change in Moscow that any world leader has yet to make.

But it has been clear the Russian dictator must be removed from office for a long time now.

It has been clear because Putins actions and rhetoric demonstrate day in and day out that Ukraine can never be secure as long as he remains in office. It has been clear because none of Russias neighbors can be secure with a megalomaniacal lunatic next door who speaks of Russian empire and constantly threatens to rewrite the borders of sovereign states.

Italys Far-Right Victory Is a (Small) Win for Putin

It has been clear because the world cant be stable as long as the man who controls the planets largest stockpile of nuclear weapons is one whose power is unchecked at home, who shows such contempt for both international law and human decency, and whose ambitions are so untethered to reality.

Justice also requires that Putin leave office. He is a serial war criminal, one of the worst the world has seen in the modern era. He has laid waste to a sovereign nation. He is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands. He has embraced the language and practice of genocide. His armies have committed war crimes. Mass graves attest to his brutality. What is more, his crimes are not limited to the human suffering he has unleashed upon Ukraine. Other violations of fundamental laws and myriad atrocities can be traced to decisions he has madefrom Russias leveling of Grozny in Chechnya to Russias active support for and participation in horrors in Syria; from the invasion of Georgia to Putins murderous campaign against dissidents within his own country.

Putin, for years, has provided evidence not only to international prosecutors but to every sentient being on the planet that he is not a legitimate leader. He does not deserve to be swathed in the protections normally accorded to foreign heads of state. He has no more claim on them than did past monstersfrom Hitler to Saddam to Gadhafi, from Pol Pot to Milosevic.

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The dead of Bucha and Melitipol or Izyum make that case with their absence. So do the victims of Russian torture, of bombed hospitals, schools and train stations, of mass kidnapping, and of unceasing terror being visited by Russian missiles, artillery and troops upon innocentsvictims of the misfortune of living next door to one of historys most repulsive miscreants.

No one could listen to Putins rambling Friday rant and draw any conclusion other than the fact that the longer Putin remains in office, the greater the damage he will do.

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Ukrainian regional separatist leaders attends the annexation ceremony of four Ukrainian regions at the Grand Kremlin Palace, Sept. 30, 2022 in Moscow, Russia.

Contributor/Getty Images

If the absurd spectacle of a signing ceremony asserting Russian control of Ukrainian territory featuring Kremlin stooges and nationalistic chants did not chill observers to the bone, then Putins belligerent language condemning the enemy in the West and his intimations that he might be within his rights to use nuclear weapons certainly should. He mocked international law. He condemned U.S. satanism. He called on Ukraine to negotiate but said that the fate of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson was not on the table, that they would be parts of Russia forever.

When President Joe Biden said of Putin in May, For Gods sake, this man cannot remain in power, it was followed by a swift clarification from the White House that the president was not discussing Putins power in Russia, or regime change.

But as we have gradually come to learn, Bidens seemingly spontaneous comments on crucial issues of international policy to which he has devoted decades of studywhether they concern Putin or Taiwanare not gaffes. They instead are expressions of common sense, acknowledgements of reality that diplomats may wish were unspoken, that cannot be the official policy of the U.S., but that are signs that the president understands clearly the reality on the ground and U.S. interests.

That is good because tiptoeing around the threat posed by Putin, hoping that accommodating him would lead to moderation in his behavior certainly has not worked. Indeed with every respectful, restrained response to Putins aggression or abuses, we have only seen an escalation of his offenses.

As Bad as the World Looks Right Now, Its Actually Worse

The measured responses to his aggression of the Bush or the Obama years did not work. Nor did the slavering obsequiousness of former President Donald Trump. Indeed, the ostpolitik of Angela Merkel and the vacillations of French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders have actually aided and empowered Putin.

No doubt Putins allieslike the talking heads at Fox News, the leaders of the MAGA caucus on Capitol Hill, and Putinistas across Europewill warn that to even speak of the need to remove Putin from office will provoke him, perhaps even lead him to unleash nuclear weapons in Ukraine or against the West. How do we know that? Because that was the response to Bidens moment of public honesty and realism on this issue.

Many others, including some well-respected foreign policy experts, suggested we should not corner Putin with a public stance demanding his removal.

Some of those experts correctly observe that the U.S. has a checkered history seeking regime change. They argue that there are no good alternatives to Putin, and so getting rid of him might produce an even worse outcome, whether that is the chaos associated with a leadership void or a more dangerous leader.

But go back and listen to his Friday speech. It makes clear that we are well past the point where the dangers of his remaining in power are greater than the dangers that might be caused by his fall.

Further, removing the worlds autocrats and thug heads of state has actually not generally produced worse successors. That was certainly true in the cases of Hitler, Mussolini, Milosevic, Pol Pot, and many others.

Next, acknowledging that Putin must go is not the same as making regime change a matter of public policy. For governments it can (and largely should) remain an unexpressed goal.

That said, certain sanctions imposed on Russia should remain in place until Russia changes key policies and positions that are indelibly associated with Putin, which in effect will mean until Putin is gone. Certain defensive postures of the west should remain in place until the threat from Russia has abated. We can do more than we currently are to help covertly support Russias opposition, especially those whose values align with ours.

Perhaps most importantly, we can ensure that any sort of lasting Russian victory in Ukraine is not an option and that Putins terms will never be met, his aggression never rewarded.

With such policies, we can actively encourage the people of Russia to recognize that their country will not have a future as long as Putin remains in power. Putin is assisting on this front. By undertaking a massive military conscription campaign, one that may call up as many as 1 million troops, who will then be under-equipped, under-trained, and likely victims of a war they did not seek against neighbors who are not in any ways their enemies, he has already lit the fuse on a potential national backlash. Millions and millions of Russians will increasingly feel the pain and loss associated with Putins war in ways that they did not before, in ways that Russian propaganda cannot hide or dress up.

Putins Headed Toward Defeat in Ukraine. The Only Question Is How Bad a Loser Hell Be.

Protests in Russia are already growing bolder.

Celebrities and business leaders are speaking out more clearly. How long will it be before the security services that surround and protect Putin begin to see the fact that he is a threat to their well-being, to their lives, to the futures of their families?

Accepting the reality that Putin must go is just common sense at this point. Recognizing that reality, we should embrace policies that encourage the conditions that will make it come to pass. We should also prepare for the consequences of such a change and make sure to send Moscow the message that Russias neighbors and the community of nations welcome a more responsible Russiawhile also making clear that we are ready to defend ourselves against one that makes the mistake of continuing (or making worse) Putins policies.

As for making the case to the Russian people that they must act, we need not do that. Putin, with speeches like Fridays and self-inflicted catastrophes like Ukraine, is already doing that far more persuasively than we could hope to do.

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Putin Has Left the World No Other Option But Regime Change

1. Hear why Putin ordered a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine  CNN
2. Putin Thanks Church for Supporting Ukraine Invasion in Christmas Message  The Wall Street Journal
3. Russia-Ukraine war latest updates: Ukraine hit power plants, Kremlin proxies say  The Washington Post

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Hear why Putin ordered a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine - CNN