This Rumor Could Explain Why Putin Is So Angry All The Time

Rumors are circulating that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be suffering from “roid-rage.” Former U.K. Foreign Secretary Lord David Owen made an accusation against the Russian leader during an interview Monday, claiming he could be using anabolic steroids which can cause erratic and angry behavior.

Owen claimed that Putin’s bloated face, along with his public behavior, is evidence of the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs.

“Look at his face, see how that has changed – he now has an oval face,” Owen said. “People who said, ‘oh, it’s plastic surgery or Botox,’ I don’t believe that at all. He’s on either anabolic steroids as a bodybuilder – and he’s very proud of his muscles and strips to the waist and everything like that – or he’s on corticosteroids. If you’re on these drugs, this gives you this face.”

Putin is notorious for flaunting his athletic achievements, from producing workout videos to often going shirtless in public to taking part in high-profile hockey games. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was stripped of his title as honorary President of the International Judo Federation, a sport associated with doping.

Owen isn’t the only high-profile figure to suggest steroid use. A risk analyst and public intellectual Nassim Taleb tweeted that Putin’s puffy face and irritability might be signs of steroid use, not botox, as others have said. City Journal editor Theodore Dalrymple wrote Monday that Putin might be taking steroids based on his puffy face.

“These drugs are noted for their numerous side effects, not the least being psychological changes such as paranoia and elevation and depression of mood,” he wrote. Then there was the question, of course, as to why Putin would be taking them. Cancer, perhaps—a lymphoma? If Putin were taking steroids, his extreme and seemingly bizarre anxiety about contracting Covid-19 would be explained. Both the underlying condition of cancer itself and the drugs would have made him vulnerable to such anxiety.”

Putin explained his Ukraine invasion by saying he wants to “de-Nazify” the country with a Jewish president and that Ukraine has always been rightfully a part of Russia. Some of his more bizarre behavior, such as sitting dozens of feet away from advisors during meetings or slamming key military leaders during public addresses, have been more difficult for experts to understand.