From the New York Post: The Kremlin quietly tried to delete footage of Russian President Vladimir Putin having a coughing fit and struggling to breathe mid-speech — as rumors of his health woes ramp up.
Putin, 73, was caught on camera repeatedly spluttering and trying to clear his throat as he was filming a pre-recorded address to mark International Women’s Day over the weekend.
In the unedited clip, Putin could be seen pausing mid-sentence and repeatedly coughing as he gestured to someone out of frame.
“You know, let me say that again, because … my throat’s a bit scratchy. Yes, a bit scratchy. I almost started coughing. I’ve been talking a lot today,” the dictator said, according to the Moscow Times.
The report explains that someone posted the footage on the Kremlin’s official social media accounts, but deleted it minutes later and replace it with a shorter version in which Putin’s coughing fit was edited out of the clip.
Too late, however, as the coughing fit video was quickly captured by other social media users, and is now widely circulating on X.
Ben Tavener, a senior journalist at BBC News Moscow, was one of the many people posting the video.
“Looks like someone is getting fired… Several outlets say the Kremlin accidentally published this unedited video of Vladimir Putin coughing and asking to re-record his 8 March address: “I’ve been talking too much,” he says. (Nothing new tbh – he often coughs during speeches.),” Tavener wrote.
Looks like someone is getting fired… Several outlets say the Kremlin accidentally published this unedited video of Vladimir Putin coughing and asking to re-record his 8 March address: “I’ve been talking too much,” he says. (Nothing new tbh – he often coughs during speeches.) pic.twitter.com/jkr2galvy6
— Ben Tavener (@BBCBenTavener) March 8, 2026
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