Since Vladimir Putin vanished from public view 10 days ago, the speculation surrounding the Russian president has been nothing if not dramatic. One rumour claimed he had died. Another wondered if some cosmetic surgery had gone wrong. Yet another placed him in Switzerland for the birth of a secret lovechild.



The reality – two conflicting reports suggested on Sunday – may be rather less sensational and not at all at one with Putin’s virile image: while one claimed he had gone down with the flu, another suggested he had been suffering from back trouble.

Quoting unnamed sources, the Russian independent news channel TV Rain said the Russian leader, 62, had succumbed to flu and retreated to his secluded lakeside residence in Valdai, midway between Moscow and St Petersburg. In what would be his first high-profile event since 5 March, Putin is scheduled to speak with the president of the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan in St Petersburg on Monday.

In Austria, meanwhile, the Kurier newspaper claimed Putin had been treated in Moscow for back problems by an unnamed Viennese orthopaedic doctor. It did not identify the source of the claims.

On Sunday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Putin’s whereabouts or health, saying only “the topic is closed”. He added that on Sunday night Putin would watch a new state television documentary about the annexation of Crimea. The trailer has revealed that in the film Putin says plans to take Crimea were launched after the ousting of the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, and were not just a response to a local referendum, as the Kremlin has claimed in the past.

Putin has not been seen in public since a press conference a week and a half ago with the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi.

A summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, scheduled to start this Thursday, with the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, and the Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was cancelled at the last minute. A source in the Kazakh government told Reuters that Putin had fallen ill.

Peskov told radio station Ekho Moskvy last Wednesday that Putin was healthy and was constantly in meetings. Asked about the president’s handshake, he said it “breaks hands”.

Although the presidential website published photographs last week of Putin holding meetings in the Kremlin, local media reported that the meetings had actually happened the week before.

On Friday, Russian television channels showed Putin speaking to the president of the supreme court, but doubts remained whether the footage was fresh.

Putin, who is fiercely secretive about his private life, has built an image of a robust, active leader through shirtless photo-ops and high-octane stunts. But he was seen limping after flying a motorised hang glider with Siberian cranes in 2012, raising concerns about his health.

A variety of ever more outlandish rumours have sprung up to explain Putin’s uncharacteristic absence, and a hashtag that translates as “Putin died” was trending on Russian Twitter last week. It was followed by a website of the same name and a variety of other memes.

Some on Twitter wondered if Putin was suffering from a botched Botox injection, which he is widely believed to receive.

After Putin did not attend a meeting last week with the leadership of the FSB intelligence agency, some speculated that his withdrawal could be tied to the murder of the opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in front of the Kremlin at the end of February.

That killing has reportedly sparked a power struggle between the FSB and the security forces of the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, one of whose men is accused of the shooting.

The Swiss tabloid Blick even claimed that Putin was likely in Ticino, Switzerland, where gymnast-turned-Russian MP Alina Kabayeva, who has long been rumoured to be Putin’s lover, was said to be giving birth to their child. Putin’s spokesman denied the claim, adding: “Information about the birth of Vladimir Putin’s child does not correspond to reality.”