A US media outlet has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin carries a suitcase filled with his own excrement and urine out of fear it might reveal too much information about his health should it fall into the wrong hands.
"Putin fears the possibility of any information about his health getting into the hands of foreign intelligence services," Rebekah Koffler, president of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting and a former DIA intelligence officer, told Fox News Digital.
"He wants to project the image that he will be ruling Russia indefinitely in order to deter any chaos associated with a change of power."
Over the years, Putin has cultivated the image of a virile and macho leader, but in recent months he has looked more frail and possibly puffy in the face, reported Mirror.
Now, there are reports that his excrement is brought home when he is on foreign trips. It has led to speculation it could be so Western powers don’t find out from his toilet visit any evidence of his illness.
Putin likely fears anyone using the excrement as evidence of some kind of weakness in his health, explained Koffler. She said that there is much speculation about him having a terminal illness, "the intelligence about his health is inconclusive."
She noted that short of a terminal illness, he will likely be Russia’s President at least through 2024 and "possibly through 2036, given that his popularity has skyrocketed after the invasion of Ukraine."
Ever since Russia launched its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, on Feb 24, there have been constant rumours swirling around the Western media that he suffers from various grave medical conditions, and even going so far as to say that he is on the verge of dying.
None of these claims have been substantiated so far.
