Sunday, December 22, 2024

Is Putin seeking immortality? Russian scientists ordered to develop cure for ageing

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Russian scientists have been pressed to work on medical treatments and medicine that could help keep President Vladimir Putin and his coterie of leaders remain ‘ageless’, a report in DailyMail has claimed.

The health ministry sent a letter in June to doctors and medical researchers, asking them about the latest developments in turning back the biological clock.  

“The biggest boss set a task, and officials rushed to implement it in every possible way,” a medical researcher source was quoted as saying. 

“We were asked to urgently send all our developments, and the letter came, let’s say today, and everything had to be sent yesterday.”

The researchers are shocked at the demands from the Kremlin officials, as developing such medicine may require years and billions in capital. They have been told to submit ‘development proposals’ to reduce cell deterioration, according to reports. 

Additionally, the researchers have been told to highlight new technologies preventing cognitive and sensory impairment, as well as methods for correcting the immune system. 

“We received this paper, and frankly, I was shocked. The message itself puzzled me. That is, right now [during the war] we have to drop everything. This cynicism is even perplexing.”

Watch | Gravitas: A step closer to anti-ageing drugs

Putin is surrounded by ageing cronies such as speaker of the Russian senate, Valentina Matviyenko (75), Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (74), FSB security service chief Alexander Bortnikov (72) and SVR spy chief Sergey Naryshkin (69).

The Russian president won the elections last year which keeps him in power up until at least 2036 which means he will be well into his eighties by the time his term comes to an end. It is perhaps one of the reasons why he has asked the authorities to speed up the process, 

Notably, Putin has long had an interest in developing a ‘youth pill’ but as he heads into his seventh decade on the planet, there seems to be a greater urgency on his part to seek ‘longevity’. 

In 2016, then 64-year-old Putin visited the Biocad plant in St Petersburg which has been working on anti-ageing pills.

Last year, reports emerged that Putin had suffered a heart attack. Although the Kremlin dismissed the news as a ‘hoax’, many speculated that Putin was not keeping well and Moscow was burying the news so that its leader would not appear weak on the global map.  

(With inputs from agencies)

Abhinav Singh

Football. Geopolitics. Cricket. Music. F1. In no particular order.

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