Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview on French television, closed new reports, saying that Putin appears in public every day and that there are no signs of any illness.
“I do not think that any sensible person can see in this person signs of any kind of illness or ailment.
Russia’s foreign minister has rejected suggestions that Vladimir Putin is ill. (AP)
“I leave this in the consciousness of those who spread these rumors despite the daily opportunities to make sure who looks like in this world,” Lavrov said.
Speculations about Putin’s health have been circulating for some time, with the Kremlin often denying rumors of illness.
Rumors of the Russian leader’s condition, known for his healthy lifestyle and love of sports, have been circulating regularly for years.
British intelligence sources were quoted as saying in the media that Putin was seriously ill last week.
Meanwhile, Russian troops advanced further into a key city in eastern Ukraine and fought street-by-street with Kyiv forces in a battle that, according to the mayor, has left the city in ruins and expelled. tens of thousands of people in their homes.
The Donetsk People’s Republic militia’s multiple rocket launcher fired from its position on the territory under the pro-government government of the Donetsk People’s Republic on 28 May. (AP)
Military analysts painted the fight for Sievierodonetsk as part of a race against time for the Kremlin. The city is key to Russian efforts to quickly complete the capture of the eastern industrial region of the Donbas, before more Western weapons arrive to bolster Ukraine’s defense.
Western weapons have already helped Kyiv forces thwart a Russian advance on the capital in the first weeks of the war. This failure forced Moscow to withdraw, regroup, and pursue the more limited goal of seizing the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists already had expanses of territory and have been fighting Ukrainian troops for eight years. .
“The Kremlin has ruled that it cannot afford to waste time and should seize the last chance to expand separatist-controlled territory because the arrival of Western weapons in Ukraine could make it impossible.” say Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.
Russia has announced it will cut off gas supplies to a Dutch gas trader in the latest trade strike against European nations. (AP)
Russia has also tried to take advantage of its energy exports to its advantage, cutting off natural gas to a handful of European countries in what was seen as an effort to punish and divide the West for its support of Ukraine.
In its latest move, Russian state gas giant Gazrpom said it would shut off gas supplies to Dutch trader GasTerra from Tuesday.
Kyiv celebrates freedom from Russian attacks
– He told CNN, Associated Press