Vladimir Putin is suffering from chronic back pain due to a horse-riding injury he suffered years ago, it has been claimed.
The Russian President, who is known to ride horses as part of his tough man image, reportedly fell during a horse riding trip outside of the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009.
Putin tries to maintain his macho image with outdoor activities and was reportedly left with lasting injuries during his first term as president.
The injuries have seen him require a number of specialist doctors including head and neck surgeons to help his condition.
According to Proekt, doctor visit Putin's residences in order to provide treatment - with many of the medics accompanying the president on his trips abroad to help him manage the pain.
The Russian news agency, Tass, interviewed him in March 2021, about one of his horse riding falls where he admitted to being injured.
He said: “They were once filming me, I was training, and it happened that the horse stopped in front of a barrier and I did a somersault, literally a somersault.”
He added he had fallen “fairly comfortably”.
And in 2012, during a trip to Turkey, Mr Putin appeared to be in visible pain due to a judo injury - with the Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko admitting the president was suffering with an injury.
He was said to have had an operation on his back after his horse riding injuries, according to Projekt, who reported: “In at least two cases, Putin underwent either an operation or a very serious procedure, most likely in the back.”
After falling off the saddle, he required lengthy treatment, which saw an acquaintance at the time admit the Russian president “couldn’t even get back on his feet” for a while.
During another trip in 2013, National Unity Day, on November 4, Russian state television channels air footage of the president laying flowers at a monument on Red Square.
However, in the footage shown by the state TV channel, Putin was not shown in the video as he was limping so badly the Russians decided against showing the footage.
The Kremlin even refused to post the video of the event on its official website - opting for photos of the president laying down flowers at the event instead.
In addition, the Kremlin also forbid any news agencies to write or speak about Putin's limp in their stories.
