He’s back: Vladimir Putin appears in public after 10-day absence

Russian President Vladimir Putin has resurfaced and is looking healthy after a 10-day absence from public view. The 62-year-old Russian leader was last seen in public on March 5, when he hosted Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The Kremlin insisted that he continued holding official meetings and released photos and video of Putin at meetings on national television, but Russian media suggested the images had actually been shot much earlier. Putin’s decision to abruptly postpone a trip to Kazakhstan planned for last week fueled speculation that he was unwell — claims the Kremlin denied. Putin met Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev on Monday, making his first public appearance since March 5. The two met in the Constantine Palace, outside Russia’s second city of St. Petersburg.

March madness.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s explanation for the rumours

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