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| Russian President overseeing military exercises this week |
Russian president Vladimir Putin is self isolating after members of his entourage tested positive for Covid but the Kremlin insists he does not have the virus.
The government is insisting that Mr Putin is “absolutely healthy” and has not contracted coronavirus despite others close to him falling ill.
Just yesterday the Russian commander in chief was photographed overseeing a huge military exercise in Kaliningrad on the Russian border with Europe.
He was personally watching on as 2,000 servicemen and women and more than 200 pieces of military equipment took part in the drill as troops stormed ashore in a war game involving the Baltic and other fleets.
Putin was today due at a military range in Nizhny Novgorod region to supervise the joint exercises with Belarus, along with Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia.
The president was also due to travel to Tajikistan this week for planned regional security meetings, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Putin, 68, was due to travel to Tajikistan for high-level meetings of the CSTO and SCO regional alliances with the rapid
deterioration of security in neighbouring Afghanistan in focus.
The Kremlin said in a statement on Tuesday that Putin had called Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon to explain he
could not travel due to his self-isolation regime and would take part in the meetings via video link instead.
A Kremlin spokesman said in a statement about the phone call: “Putin said that due to cases of coronavirus in his entourage, he has to observe a self-isolation regime for a certain period of time.”
The Russian leader has taken an array of health precautions throughout the pandemic and has had two doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
World leaders such as Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron have all previously caught Covid-19 with both Johnson and Trump requiring hospital treatment.
The British Prime Minister spent three nights in intensive care but has since made a full recovery. He blamed the severity of his illness on his weight.
The presidents of Bulgaria, Poland and Belarus have likewise all caught the virus during the pandemic.
MIRROR
