Speculation is swirling in Russia about the state of Vladimir Putin's health, as an unusual spell outside the public eye fuels the rumour mill. with AP

RUSSIA’S internet is abuzz with rumour: President Vladimir Putin has not been seen for eight days. Heart attack? Cancer? Is their controversial leader actually dead?

His press secretary Dmitry Peskov asserts: “There is no reason to worry ... everything is fine”.

But it seems official statements out of the Kremlin carry little currency.

“Putin Umer” (Putin is dead) is the trending search subject across Russia. #PutinIsDead is exploding across Twitter.

Has Putin Died? No idea, but Twitter's already buried him. RT @MrLatis #ПутинУмер? Не знаю, но твиттер его уже похоронил — Hannah Thoburn (@HannahThoburn) March 12, 2015

Blogs have been posting serious claims: One says it has had contact from a source inside a Moscow hospital saying Putin has suffered a stroke.

Others reject this, saying instead the actual problem is advanced cancer.

Rumourmongering aside, many Russians are embracing the idea. For fun.

Speculation ranges from bare-chested state funerals to speculation over whether or not the notoriously tardy president will make it to the pearly gates on time.

Such morbid chatter is not being helped by the Kremlin.

Think worst thing about be ill is have to watch daytime TV. Why everything about 'cash in car boot' and 'my mother really my sister'? #Putin — Vladimir Putin (@PutinTweets) March 12, 2015

X-ray of Putin: looks like he bit off more than he could chew. pic.twitter.com/69fQiBVaNQ via @RuNetMemes — Ukraine@war (@DajeyPetros) March 12, 2015

On March 11, Kremlin officials issued photographs of the President attending a meeting with the head of the Republic of Karelia, claiming the photos were taken that day.

Later, it was discovered that meeting had actually taken place a week earlier.

Official Moscow mouthpieces such as ITAR-TASS and RT have been continuing to report as though Putin was still very much in the public spotlight:

Putin submits protocol to Treaty on nuclear-free zone in Central Asia for ratification http://t.co/nsdRUVoh2R — ITAR-TASS (@ITARTASSnews_en) March 12, 2015

Putin informed that Nemtsov murder suspects could have been tortured — human rights chief http://t.co/BqVOiVTk5F — ITAR-TASS (@ITARTASSnews_en) March 12, 2015

Putin’s press office is pushing the line that their leader is perfectly healthy.

Peskov’s message is: He’s fine, he’s busy, and he’s still “crushing fingers” with his handshake.

This statement is being seen by some observers as coded evidence the President is unwell. The Moscow Times reports that whenever Boris Yeltsin - president of post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s — became ill, his spokesman asserted “his handshake was firm” and that he was “working with documents.”

As rumors on the whereabouts of #Russia's president abound, has anybody been checking really big crowds? #Putin pic.twitter.com/Chro7KpJFY — The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) March 12, 2015

“As soon as the sun comes out in the spring, as soon as it starts to smell of springtime, people get feverish,” Peskov explained. “Someone dreams up Sechin stepping down, others invent a big ministerial resignation, and some people start thinking they haven’t seen Putin on TV in several days.”

But the press office went on to say Putin would miss a meeting with the head of the FSB — the new name for the old Soviet KGB spy agency.

And the number of cancelled meetings keeps mounting. Putin’s office yesterday cancelled a scheduled visit to Kazakhstan. A Kazakh government official told Reuters: “It looks like he (Putin) has fallen ill.”

Everything has a meaning today Moscow regarding the #PutinIsDead rumors.What about this trucks in from of Kremlin?;-) pic.twitter.com/t1U8u0WEt1 — Wojciech Bojanowski (@BojanowskiW) March 12, 2015

A Kremlin press release announcing this visit has simply been deleted, though it can still be found in Google Cache.

Putin also was expected to be joined by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, tonight, for talks.

Today #Putin skipped a meeting with the Federal Security Service, which he usually attends. Interesting. — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) March 12, 2015

The intensity of the rumours surged early yesterday when news blog Russkiy Monitor claimed it has been contacted by an anonymous source inside the elite Moscow Central Clinical Hospital. The source reportedly claimed that the controversial leader had been diagnosed with ischemic stroke — a blood clot which has lodged in an artery. It is usually associated with high cholesterol levels and heart disease.

Unconfirmed Putin suffered ischaemic stroke, Russkiy Monitor cites hospital source http://t.co/vYIuwhXfxh — magic4519 (@chandler4519) March 12, 2015

The charismatic Russian Presidnet was last seen with a group of women at the Kremlin on March 8, celebrating International Women’s Day.

His last meeting with media was March 5 at a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Mattero Renzi.

Уж полдень близится.......а Путина всё нет! pic.twitter.com/WrPzpGOuTq — Serge N (@sergej_us0mf) March 12, 2015

But amid the humour is a real sense of fear.

Moscow residents have been posting footage and photos of “unusual” military helicopter activity around the city’s central halls of power.

Moscow’s Ukrainian enemies have seized on such speculation:

Helicopter on FSB HQ roof & outside National Defense Control Centre Moscow. Putin no show at FSB meeting https://t.co/8EobGCJaq5 @GorseFires — Ukraine@war (@DajeyPetros) March 12, 2015

Putin, ever a master player on the world stage, remains silent.

Which is unusual in itself.

@JamieSeidel

BACKGOUNDER: Vladimir Putin - just what is he thinking?