NEW YORK POST
An apparent scar on Vladimir Putin’s neck has sparked renewed rumors that the Russian president’s health may be seriously compromised amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Putin, 70, was photographed with a strange mark on his neck while attending Orthodox Easter services at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on Sunday, the Ukrainian news outlet Dialog.ua reported.
One image released by the state-run TASS agency showed Putin looking somber and holding a candle, with a slight indent seen in the skin above his shirt collar.
Ukrainian blogger Denis Kazansky speculated in a Telegram post that the mark was in the shape of a Z, the symbol affiliated with Russian pro-war propaganda.
“Oh, what is it with Volodya? It seems that I understood where Z came from,” Kazansky wrote below the image, using a Russian nickname for Vladimir.
Ukrainian Member of Parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko also commented on the possible scar in a YouTube video.
“[Putin] didn’t look very good in church yesterday. He moved with difficulty. And in the photographs, a scar is clearly visible on his neck,” Goncharenko said in the footage posted Monday.
Rumors about Putin’s alleged scar are merely the latest in several months of speculation about the former KGB strongman’s health.
Last year, the investigative outlet Proekt accused Putin of hiding thyroid cancer, writing that he had a “huge team of doctors” at his disposal.
More reports emerged in the following months, including claims that he was struggling with Parkinson’s disease in addition to cancer.
Earlier this year, a source close to the Kremlin also said that Putin was experiencing “weakness, dizziness, a lack of appetite” due to medical treatment.
Despite the ongoing concerns, Putin was apparently well enough on Tuesday to visit Russian troops in the southern Kherson and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
Video footage of the event showed Putin congratulating the military on Orthodox Easter, and presenting them with religious icons.
