The Daily Express, a British tabloid, published on Monday, October 23, a story with assumptions about a heart attack that had affected Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
This news was also received by several other Western media, but which did not find any confirmation, has been flatly denied today by the Kremlin, rejecting the claims that President Vladimir Putin is ill.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov even scoffed at the claim that Russia's leader uses social media for his public appearances.
"Everything is very good as far as his health is concerned, this is absolutely another fake news," the spokesman said in response to reporters' questions regarding the information circulated in a Russian telegram group that President Putin had been found unconscious in Kremlin, during Sunday evening, due to a heart attack.
Peskov laughed even louder in response to another question about social media, as he denied that Putin has one. "This belongs to the category of absurd and completely false information, which is discussed by a number of media with enviable persistence," said the Kremlin spokesman.
Putin, an enthusiastic practitioner of extreme sports, including Judo, who has for years cultivated the image of a "strong man" and always in action, turned 71 on October 7. He maintains a busy calendar of meetings and public appearances, many of which are broadcast in the media. He recently visited China, while also making stops in several cities in Russia. In an interview in 2020, Putin denied rumors that he uses a sozi, although he confirmed that he had been offered to use one in the past for security reasons.