Vladimir Putin’s shriveled hand at a public event in Russia has prompted a fresh wave of speculation about the dictator’s health.
Footage of the Russian president captured at a conference last week shows the 73-year-old despot’s right hand looking sickly and visibly withered, covered in bulging veins and thin, wrinkled skin.
As he stood motionless next to a basketball hoop, Putin’s hands were seen clenched tightly by his side, which commentators said looked extremely painful.
“Social media users are puzzled by what happened to the hands of the Russian dictator—they look extremely painful,” said pro-Ukrainian news outlet Nexta, which disseminated the video across social media.
Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry, echoed the sentiment on his X account, simply asking: “What’s with Putin’s hands in this video?”
“There’s something wrong with Putin’s hands,” he added. “Apart from the fact that they’re covered in blood up to the elbows, his veins are bulging too.”
“Putin clenches his hands into something resembling fists, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon told the Mirror. “They look swollen and sore, with veins bulging prominently on one hand.”
“On social media, people are wondering what happened to Putin’s monster hands. Or at least to one of the Putins,” social media user Jürgen Nauditt posted on X, while another added, “Putin, apart from being mentally sick, might also be physically sick. His hands are bloated with the veins very swollen.”
The scrutiny surrounding Putin’s hands is similar to speculation around President Donald Trump’s hands, which are regularly seen with bruises on them.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Trump’s bruised hand was consistent with “tissue damage from frequent handshaking” while taking aspirin, which she said is “part of a standard cardio-vascular prevention regimen.”
She said he has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when leg veins fail to pump blood to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs, which can then become swollen.
Putin has long been subjected to intense speculation about his health, following persistent rumors that he is suffering from a mystery disease and may be close to death.
Back in September, he was overheard talking to Chinese Premier Xi Jinping about harvesting human organs in order to live forever.
“Human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become,” Putin told Xi during a conference in Beijing back in September.
“People used to rarely live to 70, but now at 70 you are still a child,” he added, claiming that innovations may allow them to live as long as 150.
Geraschenko previously drew attention to Putin’s hand back in November 2024, when he said a video showed them “not moving and look like they are separate from his body.”
Back in October that year, the Kremlin was forced to admit that Putin had been admitted to a hospital in Moscow after disappearing from public view for over two weeks.
