Putin tightly grips desk as general reports with straight face that Ukrainians welcome their troops

A grimacing Vladimir Putin is seen tightly gripping his desk as his most trusted general reports to him with a straight face that invaded Ukrainians are showing their ‘support’ for occupying Russian soldiers.

The surreal scene shows a Kremlin meeting between the Russian dictator – at one point seen chewing his lip – and Viktor Zolotov, 68, who as director of the Russian National Guard has lost thousands of his men in the war.

The famous Putin desk grip has been seen previously as his way of stopping his hand shaking uncontrollably during his rare public appearances, amid suspicions he is suffering from early Parkinson’s Disease.

On this occasion he clasps the table with his right hand, but at one point his left too.

The video is unusual since Zolotov mainly recites the routine duties of the national guard, which Putin knows well since he set up the military force and is its commander in chief.

He departs from this only to claim that ordinary Ukrainians are welcoming the Russian invaders.

This is despite estimates suggesting 75,000 Russian soldiers are lost or maimed.

A grimacing Vladimir Putin is seen tightly gripping his desk as his most trusted general reports to him with a straight face that invaded Ukrainians are showing their ‘support’ for occupying Russian soldiers, August 30

The surreal scene shows a Kremlin meeting the Russian dictator – at one point seen chewing his lip – and Viktor Zolotov, 68, who as director of the Russian National Guard has lost thousands of his men in the war

Director of the Russian National Guard Zolotov – also an army general who was once Putin’s leading bodyguard – is believed to be trusted by Putin

‘I want to specifically stress that we feel support from the residents of the liberated territories,’ said Zolotov, in defiance of Ukrainian resistance across the frontline in Ukraine.

Zolotov – also an army general who was once Putin’s leading bodyguard – is believed to be trusted by Putin, unlike defence minister Sergei Shoigu who has apparently lost his confidence.

Defence minister Sergei Shoigu has apparently lost the confidence of Vladimir Putin

The session comes soon after the Russian exiled independent media revealed that five years ago Zolotov flew on an lavish private jet to the Seychelles accompanied by an army of glamorous women including a British-educated ’emotional intelligence coach’ and several other high ranking national guardsmen.

The trip is seen as controversial because it came the day after Zolotov signed a lucrative exclusive deal with companies run by pro-Putin tycoon Boris Vaninsky to provide food for the national guards at – allegedly – above market price.

Vaninsky was also on board the Falcon 7Х business jet for the Seychelles getaway.

Also on board – then aged 36 – was Evelina Levieva, aka Evelina Levy, who boasts she was educated at the Emotional Intelligence Academy in Manchester, said the Dossier Centre.

She has said: ‘I do brain plastic surgery. How do I do it?

‘I teach people not only to correctly recognise emotions, but even to plan for their occurrence, in order to then direct them in the right direction.’

It is unclear how or why she was by the general’s side in paradise, but she said: ‘I am not a psychologist, I am not a matchmaker and, unlike many women, I do not have to put on a mask of a bi**h.

August 25: Vladimir Putin is seen gripping the same desk with his right hand during a meeting with Head of the Federal Taxation Service Daniil Yegorov, on Thursday

July 26: Putin, left, listens to Yuri Borisov, the CEO of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, while he grips his desk with his right hand

April 21: Putin is seen gripping his desk with his right hand while meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in the early stages of the war. The footage from the meeting raised questions about Putin’s health

‘I’m good with myself. I don’t solve your problems, I don’t care about your past.

‘It cannot be changed and there is no point in digging into it.

‘I work with your future, changing your attitude to current situations and making you understand the true causes of negativity in your life.’

After the war broke out – in which Zolotov’s forces have lost thousands of men – she urged her followers not to ‘give in to panic’ nor ‘multiply hatred’.

She added: ‘Let there be peace.’

Zolotov’s grandson was educated at the UK’s Cranleigh School in Surrey, alongside close friends of Luiza Rozova, 19, Putin’s secret daughter who has vanished from social media since before the start of the war in Ukraine.

This is despite Putin’s public hostility to Russian people enjoying the benefits of life in the West.

Evelina Levy, who boasts she was educated at the Emotional Intelligence Academy in Manchester, was on board the Falcon 7Х business jet for the Seychelles with Zolotov, who signed a lucrative exclusive deal with companies run by pro-Putin tycoon Boris Vaninsky to provide food for the national guards at – allegedly – above market price