After a strange 10-day disappearance from public view—time reportedly spent convalescing with the flu—Russian president Vladimir Putin has finally resurfaced, seemingly alive, with the waxy cheeks of a dictator half his age.

Putin dropped out of sight March 5 and—despite releasing a series of misdated photos intended to suggest he was still out politicking—would not be seen in public again until the morning of March 16. Russian sources neither confirm nor deny that he spent the time recuperating at a seaside cottage in Sochi, where maybe he smiled as the salty breeze caressed his fever-hot cheeks, remembering a simpler time, before the elections, before the KGB, when death was just a concept he'd never even considered because he was in the permanent flight of youth, running, jumping, laughing, down the beaches with the local children, and sometimes he wonders how they are but never for long, it's only a fleeting thought.

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[Or he just stayed in bed and watched a documentary on Crimea, but who knows.]

Regardless, on Monday, the Russian president put the bed rest rumors to rest with a dramatically short meeting with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev. Reports the Washington Post:

In comments apparently encouraged by the Kremlin, the Kyrgyz president gave a personal appraisal of Putin's health, telling reporters that "Vladimir Vladimirovich showed me around, drove around, he himself was at the wheel – so that there will be less gossip."

A rosy-faced Putin smiled broadly, stroked his nose, then laughed. But he made no further public comments about his health before reporters were ushered from the room where the two leaders were sitting in gilded armchairs. Putin appeared to wince briefly as he sat down in his chair after strolling in with his Kyrgyz counterpart.

The appearance lasted a little over two minutes.

"It would be boring without gossip!" Putin told reporters.

Image via AP. Contact the author of this post at gabrielle@gawker.com