Overview
- An unedited recording of Vladimir Putin’s International Women’s Day message showing him coughing and asking to redo the take appeared on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel for only a few minutes before it was removed.
- Roughly 20 minutes after the deletion, the Presidential Press Service released a shorter, edited version that omitted the coughing and interruptions.
- In the original clip, Putin pointed to his throat and said his voice was scratchy, noting he had spoken a lot that day, with about 30 seconds of coughing captured before the retake.
- The outtake spread quickly across Telegram and other social platforms, with some Kremlin-aligned bloggers speculating about sabotage and Kremlin-linked reporters attributing the post to a technical error.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has repeatedly said Putin is healthy, and Western intelligence officials cited in coverage report no evidence of a serious illness, even as public discussion over the episode continues.