People think these bruises on Putin's face are proof he's very ill

Questions have arisen concerning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health amid news that he missed his beloved annual ice hockey game.

Instead, he appeared on a video sporting mysterious marks on his face.

Putin pulled out of the Night Hockey League game in which he had been “expected” to compete. The video message he sent while at Sochi, the Black Sea resort where the match was scheduled to take place, East2West News reported.

Additionally, it has been reported that there were dark blotches on the Russian leader's cheeks that may have been masked by makeup.

“I wish you good luck in your ice battles and all the best,” Putin said in his message. “And as they say, ‘May the best win.’”A Moscow source told the news outlet that the amateur game “was always a firm date in his [Putin’s] diary,” added that “something must be wrong for him to be a no-show.”

Regional Kuban News reported that “it had been expected that Vladimir Putin would also play for Legends of Hockey, but in early May, the press secretary of the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, announced that the head of state would not take part in the game.

“It is only the second time in the history of the gala matches since 2012 that the president is missing this game,” the outlet added, per East2West. “In 2013, he held a symbolic face-off and watched the match from the stands.”

Putin’s no-show on that occasion was is said by media to be blamed on health issues.

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