Questioning Vladimir Putin’s Health and Past Unexplained Disappearances

Every few years or so, Vladimir Putin disappears from the public eye for an unexpectedly long stretch, setting off rumors about the Russian dictator suffering from serious health problems.

In 2012, Putin canceled or postponed five foreign trips and spent more than a month “largely confined to his private residence in Novo-Ogaryova outside Moscow,” an absence from the public eye that was attributed to back pain.