Vladimir Putin reappears in joking mood after 10-day absence

So far so good for Mr Putin's show of strength after vanishing for an unprecedented 10 days. His face glowing and healthy, or waxen and pale, depending on the proximity of the observer to the Kremlin, Mr Putin had made his long-awaited return. "He's alive," whispered some of those gathered to watch the president's every move. Few paid such close attention to his companion, Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev. Slouching slightly, his legs far apart, Mr Putin's defiant posture was again in evidence. Hands clasped in front of his paunch, Mr Putin wasn't giving anything away. "It's boring without gossip," he muttered darkly.

 

Vladimir Putin with gymnast Alina Kabaeva. File photo / AP

It took six steps for Vladimir Putin to walk across the floor of the reception room in St Petersburg's Konstantinovsky Palace yesterday. On none of those steps was a limp in evidence.
Immediately dismissed, then, were rumours he was at death's door. The 12 pumps of his companion's hand were viewed as evidence the legendary Putin handshake was still functioning.
So far so good for Mr Putin's show of strength after vanishing for an unprecedented 10 days. His face glowing and healthy, or waxen and pale, depending on the proximity of the observer to the Kremlin, Mr Putin had made his long-awaited return. "He's alive," whispered some of those gathered to watch the president's every move. Few paid such close attention to his companion, Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev. Slouching slightly, his legs far apart, Mr Putin's defiant posture was again in evidence. Hands clasped in front of his paunch, Mr Putin wasn't giving anything away. "It's boring without gossip," he muttered darkly.

In a choreographed double-act, Mr Atambayev seemed to do most of the talking, being the first to respond to rumours of death or terminal illness circulating in the Russian press about Mr Putin since he cancelled official meetings last week.
Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, ever loyal, mocked the press for its interest, referring sarcastically to the various rumours. "So you've seen the broken, paralysed president, who has been captured by generals? He's only just flown in from Switzerland, where he attended a birth as you know," he said.
In a veiled threat, Mr Atambayev said much of the speculation - Mr Putin was ill, had watched his girlfriend give birth in Switzerland, had been toppled in a coup - was "wrong" and that anyone who gossiped about the President "wouldn't get away with it".
The meeting came just hours after Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Mr Putin called nearly 40,000 troops across the country to full combat readiness, RIA Novosti reported. "New challenges and threats to military security require the armed forces to further boost their military capabilities," Mr Shoigu said.
Other drills were ordered in the Eastern Military District. They will last for much of the week, as the country celebrates the one-year anniversary of its annexation of Crimea - a move that brought about political tensions not seen since the Cold War.

The Russian exercises coincide with the country's celebrations over its internationally condemned annexation of the Crimean peninsula, carried out with the help of special forces in March last year.
Speaking in a television documentary aired on Sunday, Mr Putin said he was prepared to use nuclear weapons to gain the territory "if necessary".

 

The nuclear powered heavy A-class cruiser in the Russian naval fleet The Peter The Great ( Pyotr Veliky ). Photo / Supplied

Russia's entire Northern Fleet is on the move today as part of a show of force involving 40,000 troops, more than 41 warships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft.
A range of military exercises were personally ordered by Vladimir Putin and coincided with his first public appearance in 10 days.
The Russian President met Kyrgyzstan leader Almazbek Atambayev in St Petersburg this morning after more than a week of intense speculation over his sudden disappearance from the public eye.
Appearing to be in good health, he did not shed any more light on the period and said: "It would be boring without gossip."
Today is the start of five days drills in one of the Kremlin's biggest displays of military power since the Ukraine crisis plunged relations with the West to depths not seen since the Cold War.

The Navy's Northern Fleet stands in full combat readiness in Russia's Arctic north, apparently aimed at dwarfing military drills in neighbouring Norway, a Nato member.
"New challenges and threats to military security require the armed forces to further boost their military capabilities," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
"Special attention must be paid to newly created strategic formations in the north."
Mr Shoigu said the order came from the President, who has promised to spend more than 21 trillion roubles ($462 billion) by the end of the decade to overhaul Russia's armed forces.
Norway is currently holding its "Joint Viking" drills involving 5,000 troops in Finnmark, a county bordering Russia in the resource-rich Arctic circle where both countries are vying for influence.
The Olso government said its military drills had been planned before the Ukraine crisis.
"However, the current security situation in Europe shows that the exercise is more relevant than ever," Lieutenant General Haga Lunde said in a statement.
Other Russian drills involved 5,000 troops in the far east of the country, while another exercise included another 500 personnel from Russia's troubled North Caucasus region of Chechnya, the site of two separatist wars.
Those exercises were aimed at extremist insurgents, whose bloody efforts to create an Islamic state has spread across the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus, fuelled by religion and anger at local abuse of power.
The Russian exercises coincide with the country's celebrations over its internationally condemned annexation of the Crimean peninsula, carried out with the help of special forces in March last year.
Speaking in a television documentary aired on Sunday, Mr Putin said he was prepared to use nuclear weapons to gain the territory "if necessary".
He described the Ukrainian revolution to oust Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 as an armed coup "masterminded by our American friends".
The US is planning to conduct joint exercises with forces from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania later this month.