Putin doesn't look great

Video clips and still images of Putin's conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu have been making the rounds on social media. While the Kremlin indicated that the two met to discuss Russia's military strategy in Mariupol, a strategic port city in Ukraine where Putin has declared "success," onlookers from afar have focused on how the president looked.

In the images, Putin can be seen gripping the table between him and Shoigu, as well as slouching down in his chair. Speculation soon spread that he could be in bad health, though rumors have previously surfaced in recent months that the leader could be suffering from an illness. The Kremlin earlier this month denied that Putin had undergone surgery related to thyroid cancer, online outlet The Moscow Times reported on April 1.

"Is this just me or Putin really looks less healthy and sound with each and every day of the war?" Illia Ponomarenko, a reporter for the website The Kyiv Independent, tweeted. "I can see a drastic difference between now and late February."

  Newsweek

In the footage posted online by the Kremlin, the 69-year-old Russian president grabs hold of the corner of the table with his right hand as soon as he sits down for the meeting, and keeps hold of it for the entirety of the 12 minute clip.

Mr Putin can also be seen intermittently holding the edge of the table with his left hand

  UK Independent

He may be sick, because there have been lots of stories about him sitting at a table that appeared to be over 6 feet long for his meetings with people seated at the other end, and in this video, the two men are practically in each other's faces across a small table. Putin, like Trump, is all about appearance. I think he wouldn't put out a video like this unless he wanted to show himself as strong at a time when he's weak. Like Trump on the balcony at the White House when he got out of the hospital from Covid and obviously wasn't recovered.

There's this article from November 2020 (keeping in mind that the source is not a particularly reliable one):

VLADIMIR Putin is planning to quit early next year amid growing fears for his health, Moscow sources claimed last night.

  The Sun

If that's true, he may have been planning to take Ukraine in a flurry of photo ops (as the story is that he thought they'd take it in a few days and is furious about the reality), and then step aside in glory.

Observers who studied recent footage of Putin noted his legs appeared to be in constant motion and he looked to be in pain while clutching the armrest of a chair.

His fingers are also seen to be twitching as he held a pen and gripped a cup believed to contain a cocktail of painkillers.

Speculation that his 20-year-reign - second only to that of Stalin - could be nearing an end grew earlier this week when laws were drafted to make him a senator-for-life when he resigns.

[...]

However, the president’s staff have repeatedly played down rumours that he is paving the way for a political exit.

And the Kremlin today insisted Putin was in "excellent health" and "everything is fine with the President".