A video released by the Kremlin press service clearly shows a dark spot on the left hand of V. Putin, which he partially covers with his right hand but gestures several times to show it to the camera.
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It is likely a trace of a not very successful “intravenous penetration,” three practicing doctors told The Moscow Times. One of them, an emergency doctor from Moscow, called the spot a “three-day-old hematoma after injection.”
According to another doctor, a resuscitator, the spot on V. Putin’s hand looks like a “carelessly performed injection.” “However, in general, a catheter should have been inserted for V. Putin (to ensure greater safety of manipulations),” he said.
What other footage shows
Judging by the videos released by the Kremlin, the shots with the spot on the hand are so-called “stock footage,” that is, filmed in advance. Besides the address to schoolchildren, the injection mark on V. Putin’s hand is also visible in a greeting to miners published two days earlier. However, it is not present in the footage of the September 1 meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, nor in the video from the meeting with teachers at Moscow State Pedagogical University held on Saturday, August 29. There, V. Putin spoke about orcas attacking polar bears and compared the wild nature “food chain” to the war in Ukraine.
The hand is a rather unusual place for an injection; usually, the elbow pit is chosen, where veins are close to the skin surface, less mobile, and relatively large in diameter, says a cardiologist with over 50 years of experience.
An injection into the hand is usually performed when the veins in the elbow bend are “used up,” for example, due to prolonged infusion therapy or inflammation after catheterization, explains the doctor.
The second reason is an urgent injection, for example, when a person is dressed and it is more convenient and faster to use the hand vein. Finally, catheters specially made for hand veins are now being produced; sometimes this is more convenient from a treatment tactics point of view, the doctor adds.
Talks about his health
V. Putin, 73, who has led Russia for more than a quarter of a century, does not disclose information about his health condition, despite periodic rumors about serious illnesses, even cancer.
V. Putin’s concern about health issues increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone scheduled to meet with the Russian leader was required to quarantine for several weeks and take PCR tests before meeting him.
The Dosje research center found in a study three years ago that the armored special train V. Putin uses to travel around Russia is equipped with a defibrillator and artificial lung ventilation device, as well as equipment to maintain anesthesia during surgical operations.
V. Putin’s health and life extension have become a large state expenditure line: a program worth 26 billion USD is overseen by the Kremlin leader’s daughter Maria Vorontsova and V. Putin’s friend, Kurchatov Institute head Mikhail Kovalchuk. In implementing this project, scientists work on tissue bioprinting, gene therapy to slow cell aging, and also try to grow transplant organs for humans inside genetically modified mini pigs, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
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