Vladimir Putin has not been seen in public for over a week as Ukrainian president Zelenskyy claims the Russian Kremlin leader ‘doesn’t have much time left’ with health battle
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s days are numbered. It comes amid ongoing speculation about Putin’s recent absence from public view.
The 73-year-old Russian Kremlin leader hasn’t been seen in person for over a week, his last known public appearance being on February 5. Despite Russian state media broadcasting clips of Putin in meetings with officials, these are widely suspected to be pre-recorded videos intended to cover up his disappearance.
The reason behind Putin’s sudden vanishing act remains a mystery, whether it’s health-related or otherwise. However, during the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy told Politico: “I’m younger than Putin..”
As laughter rippled through the audience, the 48-year-old Ukrainian leader added: “No, no, believe me this is important. He doesn’t have too much time, you know. Not too much time. He has, God bless, not too much time.”
Zelenskyy went on to lambast Putin as a “slave to war,” drawing parallels between the current invasion and the 1938 Munich Agreement. These remarks come after an unusual quiet spell from the Kremlin, which has a history of letting Putin disappear for covert medical procedures, reports the Express.
Signs of the leader’s possible physical deterioration emerged recently during a encounter with a Russian health official.
Video footage revealed Putin’s right hand displaying prominent bulging veins and paper-thin skin, whilst the leader appeared to anxiously grip his fingers beneath his sleeve.
The enigma surrounding the Kremlin comes alongside a shocking revelation from a coalition of European leaders regarding the death of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
Foreign ministries from the UK, France, and Germany have declared that specimens obtained from Navalny “conclusively confirmed” the presence of epibatidine—a deadly neurotoxin discovered in the skin of South American poison dart frogs.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper branded Putin a “murderer” who must face justice, declaring that the Russian state employed “despicable tools” to crush political dissent.
Despite mounting pressure and relentless assaults on Ukraine’s power infrastructure, Zelensky remains resolute.
“He may see himself as a tsar,” he told the conference, “but in reality, he is a slave to war.”
This development coincided with Donald Trump urging Zelensky to offer concessions to Putin, claiming Russia is pursuing a peace agreement as its comprehensive invasion of Ukraine nears its fifth year.
The US president informed journalists at the White House on Friday: “Russia wants to make a deal and Zelensky’s going to have to get moving.”
Trump added: “Otherwise, he’s going to miss a great opportunity. He’s going to have to move.” Russia continues to insist that Ukraine surrender territory in Donbas, which Putin’s forces have been unable to capture during the conflict – a demand Kyiv categorically rejects before fresh peace negotiations in Geneva next week.
Zelensky responded sharply to the proposal, arguing that Ukraine, in contrast to Russia, has already offered significant concessions – the most substantial being that Putin remains free despite his war crimes.
“We have made a lot of compromises,” he informed Politico.
“Putin and his friends – they are not in prison. This is the biggest compromise the world made already.”
The Kremlin has brought back hardline adviser Vladimir Medinsky as chief negotiator for the Geneva discussions, ousting GRU military intelligence head Admiral Igor Kostyukov.
The US has also pressed China to step in, arguing that ending the war would require just one telephone conversation.
“China could call Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow,” declared US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker.
Russian forces carried out a night-time assault on Ukraine on Saturday.
A 76 year old woman’s body was discovered beneath the debris of a collapsed building in Odesa.
“Overnight, the enemy once again attacked the region with strike drones. In Odesa, a UAV hit damaged the roof of a single-story residential building. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. Unfortunately, a woman was killed in the attack,” reported Odesa regional military chief Oleh Kiper.
A bombardment across the Zaporizhzhia region over the last 24 hours also claimed at least one life and left three others injured, regional military chief Ivan Fedorov confirmed.