Putin ‘disappears into luxurious forest palace’ sparking fresh health rumors as protests sweep Russia over Ukraine’s draft war

VLADIMIR Putin is said to have disappeared into a luxury palace in an undisclosed location as a fresh wave of protests against his war service swept across Russia.

The Russian leader’s disappearance has sparked new rumors about his health, with sources claiming he is “resting body and soul”.

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Unrest broke out in more than a dozen major cities over Putin’s forced mobilization of civilian reservists.

Anti-mobilization protests erupted across the country after Putin drafted 300,000 reservists into his bloody war in Ukraine on Wednesday.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested while thousands tried to flee the country.

Brutal riot police arrested nearly 750 demonstrators in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Ivanovo.

Dramatic footage shows officers dragging away protesters – some of whom have been accused of holding illegal rallies and in some cases discrediting Putin’s forces, which could result in up to 15 years in prison.

In Moscow, a young woman climbed onto a bench and shouted “We’re not cannon fodder” before police took her away.

Police arrested a man in a park just outside Red Square and kidnapped him while others shouted “shame”.

It follows the arrest of over 1,300 protesters on Wednesday following Putin’s announcement on live television.

Meanwhile, amidst the unrest in Russia, its leader is said to have disappeared to a palace in the Valdai Forest in the north of the country to cut himself off from the chaos.

Sources have claimed he has pre-recorded a series of videos showing him meeting with officers.

These were posted to make it appear that he was busy at work but was actually “resting” in Valdai.

Journalist Farida Rustamova wrote that a trusted source said “that Putin has been “resting body and soul” at his residence in Valdai, Novgorod region, since last Wednesday evening.”

The residence features a three-story spa complex with a “personal beauty salon” billed as a “temple to his asceticism.”

Two floors are hidden underground, crammed with a cryochamber for extreme cold therapy and a mud bath in a 75,350 square foot relaxation facility.

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There’s also a swimming pool – “a large bath or capsule filled with very salty water, which means you lie in it and seem to float on the surface as if you were weightless.”

“There is a fully equipped cosmetics practice next to a dental practice,” the team led by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny claimed when they revealed the loophole’s existence last year.

The luxurious spa also has massage baths, a 25-meter pool surrounded by contrasting hot tubs, as well as saunas and a Turkish bath and a Thai massage platform.

The sprawling lakeside property seen on drone footage includes a stable, golf course, mini-golf course, VIP restaurant with cinema, bowling, billiards room and even a mini-casino.

The complex has been dubbed Putin’s “most secret official dacha”.

Meanwhile, desperate Russians are trying desperately to flee the country to avoid being sent to the front lines.

Huge queues have formed at the borders with Finland, Georgia and Mongolia as men rush to get married to avoid conscription.

Flights have also been disrupted, with fares as high as £10,000 for travel on Russia’s national airline Aeroflot.

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