Rumor from the Kremlin: Putin to quit due to Parkinson's

The press service of the President of the Russian Federation has rebutted information that appeared in British tabloids about Vladimir Putin's intention to resign in early 2021 due to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Political scientist Valery Solovey, who previously predicted a large-scale political crisis in the Russian Federation, also spoke about the president's illness.

Earlier, The Sun newspaper published an article which claimed, citing sources in the Kremlin, that the Russian President has symptoms of Parkinson's disease. According to observers who studied Putin's recent appearances captured on video, he constantly moves his legs, and he himself looks sick, gripping the arm of his chair. They also noticed that Putin was griping a cup, which, according to the tabloid, contains a cocktail of painkillers, while his fingers were twitching.

According to The Sun, rumors of Putin's imminent resignation became stronger early this week, when bills were submitted to the State Duma to guarantee him life immunity and make him become a senator for life upon resignation.

Political scientist Valery Solovey also said that Putin may have symptoms of Parkinson's disease. According to Solovey, Putin's family, including his daughters Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, may show influence on his decision to resign. According to Solovey, Putin will soon appoint a new prime minister, who will become his possible successor. In January, he added, Putin may announce plans to transfer power.

Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov denied those reports and said that the president was not going to resign.

"This is utter nonsense. The president is doing well," said Peskov.

Interestingly, in June of 2019, Valery Solovey said that Russia would face a "large-scale national crisis" in the next two years. According to him, the current regime would change in Russia in two years.

"Putin will not serve his term till the end - he will step down. It's up to him to decide how exactly this is going to happen, but he will leave before 2024, and I can confirm this. That's all. The system will collapse, and this will be a political crisis, a change of regime," he said it.