Russian President Vladimir Putin (72), who is running for a fifth term in this March’s presidential election, took a dip in ice water on the 19th despite the weather being -5 degrees Celsius. This can be interpreted as a move to show off his health amidst repeated rumors about his health. However, with two years ahead of the outbreak of the Ukraine War on the 24th of next month, public opinion opposing the prolongation of the war is also growing, with people who sent their husbands, sons, etc. to the battlefield visiting President Putin’s election camp and urging him to “give back his family.”
According to the Russian state-run TASS news agency, the Russian President’s Office (Kremlin) announced that in the early morning of the 19th, President Putin immersed himself in a hole in the ice in accordance with the Orthodox Church’s Epiphany tradition. However, the photos were not released. The Kremlin first mentioned President Putin’s access to ice water on Epiphany in 2018 and released most of the photos. Even in 2021, when the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) was in full swing, photos of him in the ice water could be seen.
Epiphany is a day when the Orthodox Church, which most Russians believe in, commemorates the baptism of baby Jesus on January 19 every year. Accordingly, believers also adhere to the tradition of immersing themselves in ice water as if being baptized. Although the temperature in the capital city of Moscow hit minus 5 degrees on this day, many citizens took a dip in the ice water. This image was widely spread on social media.
Although President Putin is trying to emphasize that the country is healthy, fatigue due to the prolongation of the war is also increasing. According to Reuters, the ‘Road Home’ group of Russian soldiers’ families visited President Putin’s election camp on the 20th to protest.
Maria Andreyeva, who sent her husband to the Ukrainian battlefield in October 2022, said, “Putin gave an order that my husband should be there (Ukraine). “I wonder when the order will be given for her husband to come home,” she criticized.
When a Putin camp official said, ‘We must pray for the soldiers who protect our country,’ Ms. Andreeva responded, “Do we have to squeeze everything and even take their lives? “Is that why the soldiers are coming back like logs (with limbs cut off)?” he shouted. He claimed that her daughter even suffers from her speech impediment and that “all our family’s problems can only be solved when her husband returns.”
Andreeva’s remarks received considerable attention as it was unusual to publicly criticize President Putin, who has been in power for a long time. In recent weeks, wives of conscripts in similar situations have staged mass street protests in Moscow and other large cities demanding the return of their husbands.
There is still controversy surrounding President Putin’s health abnormalities. In the past, he was plagued by rumors of cancer surgery and Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Last year, it was also claimed that he suffered cardiac arrest in his bedroom and received emergency treatment from paramedics. Analysis suggests that the fact that the Kremlin did not release photos of him ingesting ice water this year is related to this.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.