Vladimir Putin has a team of ’round the clock’ doctors who follow him everywhere, it has been claimed.

The Russian leader has long been dogged with rumours about his health over reports of mysterious disappearances, trembling hands and more.

Now, former intelligence professional Christopher Steele, who headed the M16’s Russia desk between 2006 and 2009, has weighed in.

He told LBC’s Eddie Mair: ‘We don’t know the exact details of what his ailment is.

‘What we do know is that he’s constantly accompanied around the place by a team of doctors.

‘Meetings of the security council that are shown (on TV) to supposedly last for a whole hour are actually broken up into several sections.

‘He goes out and receives some kind of medical treatment between those sections. So, clearly, he is seriously ill – how terminal or incurable it is is not clear, we can’t be entirely sure.

‘But it’s certainly having a very serious impact on the governance of Russia at the moment.’

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Mr Steele explained that Putin being sick might be ‘driving his wish to solidify his legacy’ by taking over parts of Ukraine.

Conflict expert Dr Leon Hartwell previously told Metro.co.uk how Putin becomes more dangerous the more desperate he gets.

On top of this, Mr Steele believes Putin’s illness will cause havoc within the Kremlin which is ‘like a shark pool’.

‘If (officials) smell blood in the water, they’re going to attack,’ he said.

The comments come after Putin was accused of using deep-fake technology and computer graphics to ‘create the illusion of his presence’ at an online meeting with his security council last week.

Anti-Russian Telegram channel Generall SVR said the leader resorted to this disguise because he had to conceal that he had just come out of surgery to remove fluid from his abdomen.

The Kremlin has always denied reports of Putin being sick.

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