After being spotted with a swollen and “visibly aged” face, a “fearful and paranoid” Vladimir Putin is under further scrutiny for his seeming poor health.
Russia commemorated the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany over the weekend with an uncharacteristically subdued Victory Day parade that lacked ballistic missiles and armoured vehicles.
Few, however, paid attention to Putin’s remarks at the Moscow rally that he was waging a “just” war against Ukraine’s “aggressive force[s]”; instead, they were more interested in his swollen cheeks.
‘The look of a “victor” and the commander of a “superpower”‘ is how Ukrainian pundit Anton Gerashchenko described one ugly photo of the 73-year-old former spy.
“It seems sanctions have even reached Putin’s Botox,” he joked.
“History shows that many dictators visibly aged before the fall of their regime or their death,” the monitoring group Crimean Wind continued.
“Scientists connect this to isolation, paranoid fear of losing power, and chronic stress, all of which hasten the body’s ageing process.”
Putin’s health has been a topic of discussion for a long time. When he shook hands with a health specialist in late 2025, keen observers noticed bulging veins and strange fist clenching.
Vladimir Putin’s “visibly aged” and bloated face during a Victory Day parade in Moscow has raised additional concerns about his health.
Russia held an uncharacteristically subdued parade over the weekend to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Putin met with 22-year-old Yekaterina Leshchinskaya, the leader of the Russian Healthy Fatherland organization, to talk about the potential for an e-cigarette sales ban.
The Russian leader’s right fist, which had pronounced tendons, bulging veins, and thin, wrinkled skin, was visible as he reached to shake the woman’s hand.
The Russian leader was seen in the video clenching his fingers into a fist beneath the sleeve of his blazer.
Ukrainian sources speculated that he might be in pain after the video became viral on X and then in Polish media.
Leonid Nevzlin, a Putin opponent, interpreted last weekend’s “shrinking” parade—which featured no military weaponry for the first time in nearly 20 years—as a sign of Putin’s waning power.
He has established “a state in which the main ritual is contracted around one ageing man, shrinking with his capacities.” “The regime is structured so that the question of its future has turned into the question of one old man’s health.” “The only places in the country where change is still possible are about a cardiogram, about the appearance of decrepit hands, and not about elections, political course, or a split in the elites.” Because this body has a deadline just like any other.
“One can assume this parade will be his last,” stated Ukrainian expert Ivan Yakovina.
“On an empty square, with almost no [military] equipment, beneath an electronic warfare dome, he tries to privatise someone else’s victory in order to justify his own shameful, criminal war,” said Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian businessman. “Instead of a nationwide holiday, we got a personal “special operation” of one deeply frightened, ageing dictator.” “A celebration for one person at the expense of the entire country.”
According to Ukrainian pundit Alexey Kopytko, Putin is losing his ardent supporters of war.
Many pundits emphasised Putin’s swollen cheeks, claiming that the government depends on his well-being.
Putin’s health has long been a topic of discussion; many people think the Russian is near death. “At the parade, the center of attention was not the leader of a superpower, but a tired old man with shifty eyes that they still tolerate.” And he senses it. “His experience and skills still help him put on the right mask when interacting, but everything shows on his face when he’s left alone with himself.”
“A short, run-down man hunched over a weight he can no longer bear.”Putin’s entourage’s tense, dejected faces were occasionally captured on camera. “In general, no enthusiasm, no celebration.”
“Security is always there, that’s protocol, but there has never been such hovering,” he said. “You can search for comparison with parades of previous years.”
“Putin’s dread and paranoia are a result of either his own fear or being agitated and intimidated in this manner.
Inside his secure bubble, he seems “alone and isolated.”
This occurred during the first week of May, when Putin lost 7,480 soldiers due to death, injury, and captivity.
One loss occurs every 80 seconds as a result.
