Journalists and social media users are making much of how Putin held his right hand during a visit to Tehran on Tuesday when he met with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ebrahim Raisi, as well as their Supreme Leader Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Along with a video of Putin stepping off his plane to meet a delegation at Mehrabad Airport, Middle Eastern Eye reporter Ragip Soylu tweeted: “Something wrong with Putin’s walk.” He added in a follow-up message: “Also right hand not moving. Weird stuff.” The video prompted other social media users to offer a series of armchair diagnoses of Putin’s condition. President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference on July 19 in Tehran, Iran. There was speculation about how he held his hand at the summit where he met his Iranian and Turkish counterparts. Getty Images “Apparently his right hand takes 50 to finish and then it works,” one user joked, likening the Russian leader to an action figure. In a subsequent post, the user wrote that it was probably “just stiffness after sitting on a plane for a few hours.” Mykhailo Golub tweeted: “Now not only Putin’s hand but also his leg is not moving properly.” Another Twitter user, Greg HaRdee, said the clip showed “clearly some kind of mobility/coordination issue. It’s obviously favoring one side.” He added that Putin “only moves his left hand”, which is “weird for a right-hander”. Other social media users cited a popular theory about the Russian president’s “gunslinger walk,” which has been the subject of speculation for years. Security expert Ivana Stradner tweeted that Putin’s right hand usually did not move, linking this to his time in Russian intelligence, where “one hand is always close to the gun”. “Obviously, it’s hard to break strange habits,” Stradner said. This was also the theory put forward by TRT reporter Ali Mustafa, who said “the stoic right hand is linked to his KGB training meant to keep an agent’s ‘weapon’ close to his holster, ready to pull a weapon right now”. Various media outlets inferred from the video that Putin was unsteady on his feet, adding to the rumors about his health that have been building since he invaded Ukraine on February 24. Despite reports that Putin has cancer, Parkinson’s disease or both, there is no evidence that he is ill and the Kremlin has repeatedly said the Russian leader is in good health. The idea that Putin has Parkinson’s dates back several years and was explored in a 2015 study by neurologists. That study, which was published in the medical journal BMJ, also supported the theory that Putin’s unusual gait came from his KGB training. Although the study is seven years old, the scientists said Putin had “exceptional motor skills” and pointed out that a reduced hand swing explained by security service training had also been seen in other former KGB officers and military commanders.
