俄羅斯總統普京十天內首次露面

Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in public Monday for the first time in about 10 da ys as he met with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

( CNN )俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾普京首次出現在公衆面前，他週一在聖彼得堡會見了吉爾吉斯斯坦總統阿爾瑪茲別克。

Putin isn't generally one to shy away from the limelight — posing with a (tranquilized) tiger, riding a horse while shirtless, earning a karate black belt.

普京一般不介意成爲各類焦點的中心;比如,同一只溫的老虎一起拍照，光着膀子騎馬,贏取空手道黑腰帶。

So his unexplained absence fueled speculation about his health, grip on power and even his love life.

所以，他毫無緣由的消失於公衆的視野中，讓人們對他的健康，他的權力掌控，甚至他的愛情生活產生了懷疑。

Although the Kremlin and the Russian state media released photos and video footage of Putin last week, they did not quell the rumors about his whereabouts, because it was unclear when they were taken.

即使克里姆林宮和俄羅斯聯邦媒體上週發佈了普京的照片和視頻片段，仍然無法壓制有關他行蹤的傳聞，因爲這些信息並不明朗。

So all eyes were turned to St. Petersburg on Monday for Putin's scheduled meeting with Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan.

所以，所有的眼睛都在關注着普京在聖彼得堡與烏茲別克斯坦總統阿爾瑪茲別克的會面。

His appearance before the press, looking healthy and relaxed, should help put some of the rumors at least to rest.

他出現在公共媒體，看起來健康和輕鬆，應該有助於在某種程度上平息一些謠言。

And he made light of his absence, saying: "It would be boring without gossip."

不過，他看起來滿不在乎，並且說："如果沒有謠言就太無聊了。"

In another sign Putin has a firm hand on the tiller. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the President h ad ordered Russia's Northern Fleet to be placed on full combat alert from Monday morning for snap check: Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported.

另一個普京依然牢牢掌權的信號是,俄羅斯國營塔斯社新聞報道，國防部長謝爾蓋邵誼伊古說，總統已經命令北方防艦隊從週一早晨開始進入完全的戰鬥警戒狀態，準備接受檢査。

The checks are intended to test the fleet's capacity to ensure Russia's military security in the Arctic, Tass said. Also on alert are Russia's Western Military District and certain airborne units, with some 38 ,000 military personnel involved in total.

塔斯社說，這次險査是測試艦隊的能力以確保俄羅斯在北冰洋的軍事安全。同時進行測試的還有俄羅斯西部軍區和空降部隊，共有38000名軍事人員參與。

What is going on?

接下來呢？

Here's what gave some doubters grist for the rumor mill: On Friday -- three days before the scheduled meeting -- a Russian state media broadcaster prematurely aired a report that Putin had a meeting with Atambayev -- although the event had not yet occurred.

下面這些就是懷疑者曾經的依據：週五——會面開始前三天——一名俄羅斯國家媒體播音員提前發佈報道，稱普京已與阿爾瑪茲別克會面——雖然當時事情還未發生。

The station acknowledged the error, but it only heightened the speculation over Putin and his whereabouts.

媒體承認了錯誤，但是，卻炒熱了對普京地處何處的懷疑。

Social media has been swirling with questions, with hashtags such as #Putindead and #putinmissing. Was he ill? Was he holed away somewhere with his girlfriend and a new baby, as some in the European media speculated? There were even dark rumors of a palace coup in which various Kremlin factions vying for power might have ousted him.

社會媒體推波助瀾，提出普京可能已經死亡或失蹤。他可能生病了。一些歐洲媒體推測，他可能帶着女朋友和一個新生兒隱居到山洞裏。甚至有人懷疑發生了政變，一些追逐權力的派系推翻了他。

The Kremlin vigorously denied that anything was amiss, with Putin's spokesman saying the President was healthy and that his handshake "can break a hand."

克里姆林宮堅決否認任何有關普京出現不測的傳聞，普京發言人說，總統很健康，他握手時"能捏爆別人的手掌。"

But his absence came at an uneasy time as the country deals with economic turmoil and strained international relations over the war in Ukraine.

但是，在他露面時，俄羅斯並不平靜，國家正在應對經濟危機和因烏克蘭戰爭帶來的國際關係困境。

"Does Putin ever catch a cold? Does he ever get sick? The Kremlin doesn't want to allow Putin's image of virility and strength to become tarnished by the weaknesses of mere humans," CNN analyst Frida Ghitis wrote.

CNN分析家弗裏達吉提斯寫道，"普京曾經感冒了？他曾經患病了？克里姆林宮並不想讓普京硬漢的形象變成一個虛弱的男人形象。"

"Putin rules in the old-fashioned style of a personality cult. The system requires propaganda and image control. It needs Putin to be larger than life."

普京用舊的個人崇拜的方式統治國家。這需要政治宣傳和形象掌控。這要求普京比普通人更強大。

'Moscow always has been a center for rumors'

"莫斯科總是謠言的中心"

Last week, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to allay questions, telling Russian radio station Echo of Moscow that people should not worry and that Putin was "absolutely" healthy.

上週，總統發言人德米特里·佩斯科夫試圖緩解這些擔心，他告訴莫斯科的俄羅斯回聲電視臺，人們不應該擔心，普京非常健康。

"No need to worry, everything is all right. He has working meetings all the time, only not all of these meetings are public," Peskov said Thursday.

佩斯科夫週四說，"別擔心，一切安好。他整天都在工作，不是隻有這些公開的會面。"

He also dismissed European media reports that Putin had a love child.

他也無視了歐洲媒體關於普京有一個新生兒的報道。

"I am going to ask people who have money to organize a contest on the best media rumor," the Kremlin spokesman said.

這位克里姆林宮發言人說，"我想問下，到底是誰在出錢製造了這些媒體流言？"

Rumblings about Putin began last week after a meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, between the Russian leader and the presidents of Kazakhstan and Belarus was postponed at short notice. A Kazakh official told Reuters that Putin had fallen ill.

這些流言是從上週普京在哈薩克斯坦首都阿斯塔納與哈薩克斯坦和白俄羅斯總統的會見被短暫延期後開始的。當時，一名哈薩克斯坦官員告訴路透社，普京病了。

On Thursday, he missed his meeting with the Federal Security Service, Russia's counterintelligence agency.

週四，他缺席了俄羅斯聯邦安全局的會議，這是俄羅斯的情報部門。

Putin's last public appearance was supposedly on March 8, International Women's Day. But some keeping track say he hadn't been seen since even earlier -- March 5.

普京最後一次公開露面可能是3月8日國際婦女節。但是，一些線索表明，他在更早的3月5日開始就不再露面了。

In the course of his many years in power, Putin has cultivated the image of a strong and vigorous leader. His exploits, captured on film and released to the media, have been many.

在多年的掌權過程中，普京給公衆創造了一種硬漢形象。他被影像捕捉的和發佈到媒體的各類壯舉，數不勝數。

And he enjoys a whopping 86% approval rating, although some critics question the validity of polling they say is carried out in a climate where people are afraid to voice opposition to Putin's government.

他的支持率高達恐怖的86%，雖然有一些批評家質疑，投票的準確性在人們害怕反對普京政權的整體氣氛中被扭曲。

"Moscow always has been a center for rumors and speculation," said Jill Dougherty, an expert on Russia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former CNN correspondent. "As soon as the President does not show up, which is really kind of rare for him, people begin to question.

威爾遜國際研究中心的俄羅斯專家和前CNN記者吉爾多爾蒂說，"莫斯科總是謠言和炒作的中心。"只要總統沒有露面，雖然這對他很罕見，人們就開始亂猜了。

"You have to look at this in terms of, why all of this insanity? And one of the problems is, people are very nervous, legitimately. Where is Putin? Is he in charge?"

"你不得不想，爲什麼這些人像瘋子一樣？一個主要問題是，人們通常容易緊張，比如，普京在哪？他還在掌控權力嗎？"