Vladimir Putin will travel to Alaska for a historic summit with Donald Trump amid a growing maelstrom of theories about his health.
According to his enemies and hints from Western intelligence services, Putin, 72, is suffering from conditions as minor as restless leg syndrome, or as serious as cancer and Parkinson's disease.
His changing appearance has given rise to suggestions that he is being treated with steroids to boost his immune system, and there have been reports of subsequent 'roid rages'.
Other theories abound.
There is some evidence, although circumstantial, that he has used body doubles, and claims that he has taken to an old Russian practice of bathing in deer antler blood to extend his life.
