The study, published on Tuesday by the British Medical Journal, notes that Putin has shown a "clearly reduced right-sided arm swing", possibly related to weapons training he received when he was part of the Soviet² KGB.

 

Citing a KGB training manual they obtained, the researchers suggest that his style of walking is linked to training he underwent in the feared security agency, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant³ colonel before retiring at the twilight⁴ of the Soviet Union.

 

"According to this manual, KGB operatives were instructed to keep their weapon in their right hand close to their chest and to move forward with one side, usually the left, presumably allowing subjects to draw the gun as quickly as possible when confronted with a foe," the researchers, based in Portugal, Italy, and the Netherlands, wrote.

 

The study asserts that Putin's asymmetrical⁵ arm swing is likely "a behavioural adaptation resulting from military or intelligence training."

 

Bloem conceded that his researchers do not have access to Putin's medical records or his doctors. But he said Putin's unusual walk is the subject of a small but growing debate among medical specialists.

 

"It is an unusual study, but there is a very serious message to it" about neurological observation, he told AFP in a telephone interview.

 

Bloem added that Putin's "abnormal gait has been noted⁶ before."

 

"What we are putting forward, but very cautiously, is a new hypothesis," he said.

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