A major flu outbreak has affected many Kremlin officials and there are growing speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin will imminently go into isolation in a bunker, a report has said.
The serious outbreak, which has been reported across the country, has breached the Kremlin and reportedly infected officials close to Putin. The revelation of the flu sweeping Putin’s presidential team comes amid speculation that he is set to hide away by the New Year amid health concerns, The Mirror reported.
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The Russian President and his close family will go into isolation in a bunker somewhere in the Ural mountains.
Russia is currently suffering through a major onslaught of flu and Swine flu on top of the increasing infection of Covid-19 as winter settles in.
The Russian president has reportedly cancelled his annual set-piece press conference this month, a first in ten years.
Vladimir Putin’s address to parliament is not ruled out this month, but the unusual unprompted Kremlin claim of his close officials being hit by flu may result in its cancellation, the report said.
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Putin uses the year-end ritual to polish his image, answering a wide range of questions on domestic and foreign policy and give the semblance of openness even though the event is tightly stage-managed.
Some of his previous performances lasted for more than 4.5 hours, during which he has sometimes faced some pointed questions, but used them to mock the West or denigrate his domestic opponents.
Novaya Gazeta Europe news outlet reported that “many people in the Kremlin were down with flu”, attributing the infection disclosure to Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Dmitry Peskov confirmed this Monday that Putin wouldn’t hold the news conference this month without explaining why.
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