Russia denies Putin has health issues after coughing fit incident

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The 68-year-old Russian President, Putin, was seen coughing during a meeting with officials on Wednesday.
• Video recording of the live meeting was edited after to modulate the violent coughing scene.
• The Kremlin stressed that Putin was healthy, adding that the meeting went on without disruption.

During a TV broadcasted meeting on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had suffered a series of hard coughing, and the Kremlin denies that the Russian president has health issues.

Putin, 68, was seen having a hard time finishing a  sentence while discussing COVID-19 critical financial difficulties with top officials.

The footage was edited afterward, and the revised video seemed to show Putin’s coughing fit was less severe than the actual.

TASS, the state news agency, inquired with the Kremlin about the president’s health and was advised that Putin was unquestionably normal, adding that he apologized and went on with the meeting almost uninterrupted.

The coughing started as Putin talked through a video call to Anton Siluanov, his finance minister, and other senior government officials. Upon asking to be excused, he repeatedly placed his right hand to his mouth while struggling to talk. 

This footage of the president was omitted later posted to Kremlin’s website.

As compared with other leaders, including Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, Putin has seemed to dodged getting infected with the coronavirus.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, earlier this month, disputed stories that Putin could vacate his office by January 2021 allegedly because of having Parkinson’s disease. Peskov said the rumors are not true, and Putting is absolutely fine.

And while Russia reportedly has two vaccines now, Putin has not been administered with it yet. Katerina, 34, Putin’s daughter, though, has been injected with the said vaccine.

Upon learning that the Moscow clinic doctors he had interacted with in April got infected with the coronavirus, the Russian president has mostly isolated himself in the previous months.  

Initially,  Putin’s existing term will end in 2024,  but a recent constitutional revision passed allows him to extend up to two more terms, which means he could stay in office until 2036.

Putin’s rise to power started on the final day of the 20th century, upon the resignation of Boris Yeltsin. The ex-KGB officer since then was either Russia’s prime minister or president.

The conference on Wednesday was following the new record high of COVID-19 related deaths at 456, which makes the total number of Russia’s casualty has reached 34,387.

Still listed as the fifth highest worldwide infected by the virus, the total has reached two million when new cases in just 24 hours have reached 20,985.

Putin said during the more than an hour-long conference that the COVID-19 crisis in the country still has a huge impact in many places,  and he seeks help from the finance ministry.

There are also reports that Russia has been secretive on its actual death toll, and the numbers are considerably higher than what was announced.

Source: Daily Mail UK