Has Russian president Vladimir Putin had a heart attack?

A Telegram channel run by a Kremlin insider has claimed Vladimir Putin fell ill at the weekend

It has been claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin has had a heart attack at his official residence.

However, no official statement has been made by the Kremlin about the president’s health.

Has he really suffered a serious illness and if so, how would we know?

Where did the rumour about Mr Putin’s heart attack begin?

An established Telegram channel run by a Kremlin insider began to run information claiming that Mr Putin had suffered a heart attack at home over the weekend.

Some news outlets began to follow up on the story, however, many did not, amid fears that it had not come from a credible source. The Kremlin has not made any official statement on Mr Putin’s health in recent days.

The channel, General SVR, an organisation claiming to have classified information on Kremlin activities from retired and active intelligence officers, said Mr Putin had collapsed in his presidential bedroom on Sunday morning. It said food and drinks had been spilled when he collapsed and his security officers had stormed the room after hearing a commotion inside.

"Two security officers immediately followed into the president's bedroom and saw Putin lying on the floor next to the bed and an overturned table with food and drinks,” General SVR said.

The channel added that doctors were on duty at the residence.

"Putin convulsively arched while lying on the floor, rolling his eyes," the post added.

"Doctors performed resuscitation, having previously determined that the president was in cardiac arrest. Help was provided on time, the heart was started, and Putin regained consciousness."

It was believed he was subsequently taken to hospital.

Has he actually suffered a heart attack?

No-one (outside of Mr Putin himself and his inner circle of close confidantes) knows for sure.

There has been speculation about his health for a long time. Some have claimed the 71-year-old is suffering from cancer and could be terminally ill.

The Ukrainian government has backed this narrative – however, any vulnerability on the part of Mr Putin would be beneficial to it, so it is not surprising that it wants the public to believe Mr Putin is unwell.

He will have to make a public appearance at some point – will it not be obvious then?

Not necessarily. There have been rumours for a long time that Mr Putin has used body doubles for many public appearances – whether for health reasons or security reasons, it is not clear. These claims have also been made public by the General SVR Telegram channel.

It was claimed that he used a body double on a trip to China last week – with some analysis of photographs raising questions over the structure of “Mr Putin’s” cheekbones, in comparison with other pictures of him from the past.

He has made fewer public appearances in recent years. During the pandemic, he kept a very tight inner circle and avoided contact with even some of his closest advisers, fuelling speculation that he may have health problems which made him more vulnerable to Covid. Photographs from the time showed Mr Putin sitting at the end of an extremely long table, metres away from another senior government official.