As Newsweek previously reported, Lautman said earlier this month that with Russia being such a controlled society where Kremlin officials keep a tight rein on information, Putin’s exhibition of symptoms of sickness could only be “theatrics and distraction.”

But just what officials could be up to is unclear. She believed it could be a plan to see if anyone was attempting a power grab, or to lay the groundwork to put a new face in the Kremlin.

Another reason might be a way to float the idea that a sick Putin may step down so there is no need for them to worry about his iron rule.

“Just because we might think that circulating rumors about a leader’s health would be a potential strategy to try to weaken the leader’s hold on power, it does not mean that the leader in question could not actually be sick,” said Tucker. “I suspect very few people know the answer to that question.”