Zelensky says ‘I don’t know if Putin is still alive’
>
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky questioned whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is still alive as he addressed world leaders in Davos.
Speaking to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s alpine resort via video link on Thursday, Zelensky cast doubt on the despot’s ability and suggested he might be dead.
Speculation about Putin’s health has been ongoing during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the tyrant has made fewer and fewer public appearances.
Zelensky’s comments come as Putin failed to show up for his annual plunge into Russia’s icy waters to mark the Orthodox Epiphany, further fueling doubts about his status.
President Zelensky said he did not know if Putin was still alive, while addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 19, 2023.
Speculation about Putin’s health has been rampant during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the photo: Putin speaks with Russian workers in Obukhov, January 18, 2023
Ukraine’s wartime leader was discussing possible peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow when he suggested that Putin might, in fact, be dead.
‘Right now I don’t understand who to talk to. I’m not sure if the president of Russia is still alive. he said.
“I don’t understand that he is still alive or that he is the one making the decisions in particular.”
Despite questioning the despot’s mortality, there has so far been no evidence to suggest that Putin is actually dead.
But the Russian leader has been making very few public appearances amid growing speculation about his health.
Adding to the speculation, Putin did not show up for his traditional plunge into icy waters to mark the Orthodox Epiphany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin crosses himself as he bathes in ice-cold water during a traditional Epiphany celebration in Moscow, January 2019.
Russian President Vladimir Putin dives into the water during Orthodox Epiphany celebrations in Lake Seliger, Tver region, Russia, January 19, 2018.
Many Russians were left waiting for clues about the tyrant’s health as they annually plunged into ice holes on frozen rivers and lakes, including in Siberia, where some experienced air temperatures as low as minus 53C (minus 63F).
Until now, however, the traditional images of dictator Putin stripping naked and waging his own Cold War have not appeared.
Any confirmation that he missed his annual bath will be seen as another sign that, at 70, his health is deteriorating amid fears among his loyalists that he is battling cancer and other ailments.
He did not participate last year, but he did in 2021, with images revealed to the Russians.
Women his same age, in their 70s, were among the hundreds of thousands of Russian bathers across the country this year.
Putin’s spokesman had denied that Putin would immerse himself in St. Petersburg, where he had official engagements yesterday, but suggested he would do so “somewhere else.”
However, late in the morning in Moscow there were no pictures.
Russian Orthodox believers immerse themselves in the ice-cold water of a pond during celebrations for the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia, on January 18, 2023.
People believe that immersing in the holy waters during the Epiphany holiday strengthens the spirit and body, Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023
Two Russian men take a dip in the icy water of a pond during celebrations for the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia, on January 18, 2023.
A Russian Orthodox priest plunges into ice cold water in a pond during celebrations for the Orthodox holiday of Epiphany, in Moscow, Russia, on January 18, 2023.
Paratroopers in sub-zero temperatures were seen diving into the Main Temple of the Russian Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Moscow region, where the temperature was relatively mild -5C.
Troops in and near the war zone also participated in the annual bath despite the apparent absence of their commanding officer from the ritual.
Aysen Nikolayev, 50, Putin’s top official in Yakutia, Russia’s coldest region, plunged into the water with an air temperature of minus 53°C to mark the Orthodox Epiphany.
She was inside a tent erected on the ice, from which the local women could not get out.
But the compatriots did not seek shelter from the extreme cold.
Throughout Russia, some 10,500 rescuers were delayed to monitor bathers and prevent accidents.
It is not uncommon for bathers in rivers to get carried away by the ice or face medical problems due to the impact of the cold.
Women the same age as Putin, in their 70s, were among the hundreds of thousands of Russian bathers across the country this year, Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023
Epiphany marks the day Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River, and Orthodox Christians across Russia dug holes in the ice to immerse themselves in and reconnect with a tradition dating back centuries.
Arkhangelsk resident Nadezhda Voroshilova, 70, the same age as Putin, said she feels much younger after regular ice swimming.
“I swam at -36°C,” he said. The ice hole froze right in front of us. I swim in any weather.
‘The stronger the frost, the better for us. You get more rumors. It’s indescribable. You have to feel it. When you get out of the hole, it’s hot, like in a steam room.
Winter swimming is a way to stay in good shape and socialize, he said.
‘We have a family at the club. We come here and celebrate birthdays together. There are very interesting people here.
‘We are all guests on this Earth, that is why we must enjoy each day: it is interesting to live, to live with passion.’
In the arctic city of Norilsk, there weren’t enough ice holes, so residents drained their water in temperatures of minus 40°C.
Epiphany marks the day Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River, and Orthodox Christians across Russia dug holes in the ice to dive in and reconnect with a tradition that goes back centuries.