If we’re being honest, Vladimir Putin has bore a striking resemblance to a bloated corpse for quite a while now. So it really isn’t too much of a stretch to think that the Kremlin might be pulling a Weekend at Bernie’s on the world. But Volodymyr Zelensky is feeling the full wrath of Russia’s top people after admitting that he sort of has a feeling Putin is no longer with us.
As The Daily Beast reports, Zelensky shared those thoughts with all the fancy-schmancy world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland. While discussing the challenges of trying to come to some sort of resolution in the current war with Russia, the Ukraine president said:
“I don’t quite understand who to speak with and about what. I’m not sure the president of Russia, who sometimes appears against a green screen, is the right one. I don’t quite understand if he is alive, if he is making the decisions, or who is making the decisions there.”
Zelensky’s remarks did NOT go over well in Russia, where Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov issued a quick response — but very noticeably didn’t really address the matter of whether Putin’s heart is still indeed beating: “Clearly, Zelensky would prefer for neither Russia nor Putin to exist. The sooner he realizes that Russia exists and will exist, the better for such a country as Ukraine.”
Notice that he only said that Russia is and will exist — but not Putin? Hmmmm…
Zelensky isn’t just pulling these thoughts out of thin air. For months, there have been rumors that Putin’s health was failing — or that it had failed completely. The Russian dictator hasn’t done himself any favors by not showing up in person for pretty much anything (when he does attend a meeting or event, it’s via a video link). Even more suspiciously, Putin canceled his annual end-of-year press conference in December (a tradition he has had for 10 years), nor did he address the Federal Assembly, as he always does. All of this came after he reportedly fell down some stairs and sh*t all over himself in December.
As The Daily Beast’s Allison Quinn writes:
While Putin did take a trip to St. Petersburg this week and appeared publicly for several events, the Kremlin stoked further suspicions about Putin’s health Thursday with the announcement the Russian leader had taken a dip in icy waters to mark the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany, in keeping with his yearly tradition—but said no one would ever see proof he’d done so.
Peskov didn’t help to alleviate suspicion when he stated that: “This time there are no photos or videos. We are just informing you that he followed his tradition.”
(Via The Daily Beast)