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Vladimir Putin once again appeared to be unable to control a twitchy leg during his lengthy interview with US right-wing journalist Tucker Carlson earlier this week.
The Russian president spent half an hour of the sit-down chat on an almost uninterrupted ramble covering 1,200 years of Eastern European history.
But some viewers were distracted by his apparent need to physically push down his knee to prevent his leg from moving around.
It’s been an odd habit of Putin’s for a while – stretching back at least as far as September 2022, when the appendage started twitching during a speech in front of schoolchildren in the exclave of Kaliningrad.
The bizarre wiggling movement returned last year during the 71-year-old’s high-profile meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Some observers have linked it to possible health issues, after years of rumours suggesting he is suffering from terminal cancer or early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
Restless legs syndrome, also known as Willis-Ekbom disease, is common in people who have Parkinson’s – although it can have other causes.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that Putin is living with any serious health conditions.
Vladimir Putin sometimes seemed unable to control his body during the interview (Picture: Tucker Carlson Network/BACKGRID)
The president is seen pushing down on his leg to stop it jiggling (Picture: Tucker Carlson Network/BACKGRID)
Following another restless appearance at a summit with Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in November 2022, government spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted: ‘Those who work next to him struggle to keep up.
‘One might only feel envious about his level of energy. His health – you can only wish it for yourself.’
Arguably, the conspiracies reached a pinnacle last October with reports the president had died at his luxury forest residence Valdai and was being replaced by a body double.
Mr Peskov was forced to push back against the story, describing it as an ‘absurd information canard’.
Putin has long been a magnet for often bizarre theories, including rumours he was replaced with an AI clone during a recent speech and endless stories about his supposed use of body doubles.
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