Putin’s hands look ‘black’ in latest sign of serious illness

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands are starting to look black on top, a likely sign he’s had a barrage of injections to battle serious illness, a former British Army chief has said.

Lord Richard Dannatt highlighted the potential sign in a discussion about leaked Kremlin emails allegedly confirming that the 70-year-old warmongering leader has Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer.

Recent photos also appeared to show signs of numerous IV marks on Putin’s hands, which he often covers up at official engagements.

“Keen observers now are noticing that his hands are looking pretty black on top, which is a sign of injections going in when other parts of the body can’t take injections,” Dannett told Sky News, according to The Sun, which first revealed the leaked emails.

“It’s interesting to note that, and just to watch whether he is as fit and well as he would like to portray,” said Dannett, who was the UK Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009.

“It’s an interesting area to keep an eye on,” he insisted.

Putin has faced escalating speculation over his health for years, with his hands regularly a supposed giveaway sign.

For months, he has been seen grabbing hold of tables while speaking, with his hands otherwise twitching. A recent propaganda video also appeared to show suspicious marks on Putin’s right hand as he was grasping a soldier’s arm.

The Kremlin reportedly released a doctored version with numerous watermarks obscuring the view of the hand.

Online observers suggested it was a sign either of IV track marks or bulging veins from serious illness.

On Tuesday, The Sun reported that leaked Kremlin emails confirmed that Putin has “already progressing” Parkinson’s disease as well as pancreatic cancer — and is suspected of also having prostate cancer.

“Putin is regularly stuffed with all kinds of heavy steroids and innovative painkilling injections to stop the spread of pancreatic cancer he was recently diagnosed with,” a Russian intelligence source wrote in the alleged leaked document.

But that is not the only reason Putin hides his hands — he’s also terrified of getting poisoned, the same outlet said.

“At rare meetings with the public and journalists, Putin tries not to touch anything with his hands because he doesn’t trust anyone,” The Sun quoted a Russian security services insider as saying.

“He afraid of being poisoned by touching objects – if he drinks any liquid, all the bottles and glasses are immediately confiscated by his bodyguards and tested.”

Even beyond his health, Putin’s leadership is weakening because of disastrous mistakes made during his war on Ukraine, western officials believe.

“People are talking more about succession and imagining a life beyond Putin,” a western official told The Times of London.

“The Russian system is very opaque, but he’s been weakened by this really catastrophic error,” an official told the outlet.