'Vultures' circling Vladimir Putin as aide 'plots coup' and minister 'depressed'

Vladimir Putin is reportedly being surrounded by "vultures" with a close aide plotting a coup and another one planning to act as kingmaker.

There are also recurring rumours about the Russian president's failing health from cancer as he blasts Ukraine with missiles.

The latest bizarre claim is that in two key meetings on Thursday, the Kremlin dictator had to stay in the same position and sit on a special cushion following "proctological surgery" - procedures involving the backside.

In a further blow to Putin, there are claims that his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is drinking because he is "depressed" and suffering "health problems".

Kremlin "chef" Yevgeny Progozhin is seen by some US officials as angling to stage a coup against his weakened master, said one report.

Sanctioned Putin fixer Prigozhin, 61, boasts his own private army - Wagner - and has recruited tens of thousands of mercenaries and prison inmates to fight in Ukraine - a force some see as giving him clout in a Kremlin power struggle.

Christo Grozev, chief Russia investigator for Bellingcat investigative journalism organisation, said: "This is uncharted territory for Putin. Prigozhin has 20,000 bloodthirsty, armed and aggressive men.

"They’re telling me, ‘We’re wondering if we should just lay down our arms because we’ve been turned into cannon fodder and go to Moscow?’ That’s in their thought process already."

Grozev has predicted a Prigozhin-led coup is a realistic option in 2023, stating: "This pressure cooker has to explode in one direction or another. Either it will be a bloody revolution or something else."

Another report, however, says the US is poised to designate Wagner as a "terrorist organisation".

As its leader, Prigozhin could be directly targeted by Western special services - unless Putin gives him a top government post that he craves even though he is loathed and mistrusted by many senior figures.

He has long coveted the role of defence minister, ousting "weak" Sergei Shoigu.

Yet as defence minister he would be even more strongly placed to stage a coup to oust Putin.

Some fear he could work with Chechen warlord leader Ramzan Kadyrov, 46, who also boasts a sizable army loyal to him, and likewise is seen as a loyalist who has backed Putin's war.

A key rival to Prigozhin is hardline security chief Nikolai Patrushev, 71, who is lying low, according to former Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov, a political analyst.

His "disappearance" is because Patrushev is angling to install his son, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev, 45, as Putin’s successor as president, he said.

Another hardline figure close to Putin - deputy head of the Kremlin administration Sergei Kiryenko, 60, an ex-prime minister - also has ambitions to become president.

There are also claims of an active Operation Noah’s Ark to find a haven for Putin, perhaps in South America, if he sees his toppling as inevitable, according to Gallyamov.

Meanwhile, a source in the Russian foreign ministry has told gulagu.net that Putin's whisky-loving most senior diplomat Lavrov, aged 72, has reduced his public activity and appears at work less often.

The insider said: "One of the versions is health problems. We all think he drinks because he's depressed."

He is known to have had a heart scare at the recent G20 summit in Bali.

Lavrov appeared to be at an online security council meeting with Putin but was not heard speaking.

Putin also has medical problems, it is claimed.

Telegram channel General SVR said Putin at lengthy meetings was forced to stay in one position, leaning on the table, while sitting on a special pillow — after a simple proctological operation last Saturday.

This meant he now needs "special underwear that retains liquids and odours", while only sitting for a limited period.

The alleged surgery followed him falling down the stairs at his official residence, according to the channel, a report denied by the Kremlin.

A video shows him at the security council meeting. There were claims the meeting had been "canned" and recorded earlier than the Kremlin admitted, based on senate speaker Valentina Matviyenko, 73, wearing the same clothes in two separate sessions a day apart.