Vladimir Putin is “paranoid”, a “germophobe”, and has resorted to bathing in the blood of deers’ antlers, it has been claimed.

Journalist Diane Francis made the remarks amid reports that Putin’s scientists are working on an anti-ageing treatment due to the Russian President’s obsession with “eternal life.”

Speaking to Times Radio, journalist Diane Francis said: “If you recall, at the beginning of the invasion and after Covid, when he would have a meeting, he would have these long tables. If you met with him you would have to be double-checked and triple-checked.

“He is a germophobe. We don’t know why. The speculation was that he might have gone through chemo…he is just a germophobe or paranoid.

“One of the stories I read is that Putin does seek oddball characters who promise cures or some regimen that will make him live happier or longer.

“It looks like he has resorted to primitive, shaman-type methods and he is reported to take regular baths in an extract made from the blood of the antlers of Siberian red deer. He does that regularly.”

Putin, who will turn 72 later this year, has been the subject of speculation for years due to his health.

Various reports in recent years have made unsubstantiated claims that he has suffered with cancer or Parkinson’s.

In 2022, a report by independent Russian media claimed Putin travels around with an entourage of medical experts, including an oncologist.

It was this same report that first claimed that Putin bathes regularly in the blood of deers to improve his health.

The report added: “As he aged, concerns about health and longevity have so consumed the president that he has even shown an interest in unconventional medicine, despite many members of his family, including previously unknown ones, being physicians.”

In May 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that Putin had any health complications.

He said: “You know, President Putin appears in public every day. You can see him on the screens, read his speeches, listen to his speeches.

“I don’t think sane people can discern any sort of symptom of disease in this man.”