According to claims, VLADIMIR PUTIN bathes in deer antler blood to improve his sex drive and overall health.

Despite being denounced by animal rights organisations, the barbarous old procedure known as “natural viagra” is supposed to increase male virility.

According to Proekt, a Russian investigative journalism source that has since been banned by the government, Russia’s president was introduced to antler baths by the country’s current defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, in the early 2000s.

An extract is extracted from red deer antlers that are ruthlessly removed with a saw in the spring when they are full of fresh blood.

Clinics offering the therapy, including one in Siberia’s Altai Mountains favoured by Putin, say it offers a variety of health advantages, including “male potency.”

“Extract from red deer antlers performs as a potent tonic, especially for men’s virility,” according to one Alta farm that exports antlers for use in Chinese medicine.

“It strengthens the body’s bones, muscles, teeth, vision, and hearing, as well as curing pleurisy, pneumonia, asthma, joint pain, osteoporosis, and spine disorders.”

“An associate of the president alleges that he had been advised that there is no solid proof of the advantages of antler bathing,” according to Proekt’s report.

“However, Mr Putin enjoyed it, and he has been to Altai several times since then.”

The Russian president’s strange practise of taking blood baths was first reported on in 2017.

According to the local media site kapitalist.tv, at least 70kg of deer horns were prepared for Putin’s visit to Altai in 2016.

He is even said to have introduced former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to the heinous custom.

Animal rights activists have long decried the practise as “barbarian,” and frightening stories from deer farms explain how each animal is treated.

“herded into a specific cutting chamber,” where it is gripped in a press and its head rests on a ledge.

The critters are “bewildered” and “shell-shocked,” according to observers, with their eyes “bulging with panic.”

“Two or three people perch on the stag’s back from above, one holding the coveted antlers, his trainer on the animal’s nose, immobilising the head,” one stated.

“One chops the antlers, his foot on the back of the neck, keeping the beast from moving a centimetre till the expensive prize is removed.”

CANCER RUMOURS

According to the Proekt article, Putin also brought a cancer doctor with him on regular travels away from Moscow.

Yevgeny Selivanov, a doctor at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital, is said to have flown to Sochi 35 times with the president, with hotel bills showing his travels.

The Russian president has been tight-lipped about his health, but recent public appearances in which he appeared “bloated” and “weakened” have fueled speculation about his medical condition.

The 69-year-old, who has long prided himself on his “strong man” image, has altered considerably in recent years, sparking concern that he may be suffering from a serious physical disease.