There was a new flurry of online speculation about the health of the Russian president after a video showed him twitching.

Putin jerked his foot several times in the meeting where the security issues in central Asia were discussed. The video was published by MailOnline.

The evidence is slight, but was seized upon amid tensions with the West over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Speculation about Putin's health has been fueled by clips from meetings where he was seen gripping a table or awkwardly moving his leg.

Christopher Steele, a former British spy, claimed on Sunday that Russian sources had told him that Putin was dead.

In an interview with Sky News over the weekend, a Ukrainian intelligence chief claimed that Putin is very sick and in a bad psychological and physical state.

In a recently-released secret recording, a Russian billionaire said that he had been told by Kremlin sources that Putin had blood cancer.

There is no evidence to support these claims.

From action man, to rumors of failing health 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009.
Alexsey Druginyn/AFP via Getty Images

In his first decade in power, Putin sought to portray himself as a vigorous action man, riding a horse bare-chested, piloting a light aircraft, and defeating opponents on the hockey pitch in propaganda stunts.

The Russian leader is approaching 70 years old and now casts a different figure in public appearances.

Putin holds meetings with foreign leaders across a vast table and has appeared bloated and agitated when pictured with top Kremlin officials and allies.

Proekt, a respected Russian investigative outlet, recently published an article about Putin's health problems during his presidency.

It claimed that the Kremlin closely controls what footage is released of Putin to cover any abnormality or obscure times that he is absent from public life for medical treatment. He has back problems and may have been treated for a disease.

Experts on Parkinson's disease expressed skepticism towards the idea that Putin may have the disease in comments to German broadcasters.

Mark Galeotti, one of the UK's leading experts on Russia's security services, in a recent article for The Spectator cautioned against some of the wilder speculation about Putin's health that he said was indicative of wishful thinking.

He wrote that the idea of Putin succumbing to a malady is similar to the idea of the palace coup.

Beware of magical thinking. According to the medical opinions, whatever Putin may have, it is not likely to lead to death or incapacitation. It is possible that he is ill enough to be more reckless and less concerned about the long-term risks, but not so ill to be out of the picture.