Paranoid Putin's bizarre daily routine from sleepy mornings to poison testing every meal

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not get up until 12pm and even then his courtiers are forced to wait until he's eaten a bizarre breakfast and finished swimming before the day's business commences

Vladimir Putin loves a lie in and refuses to climb out of bed long before breakfast is served at midday.

Many revelations about the Russian President's diet can be accused of being dubious at best given they come from the country's propaganda machine.

But thanks to the digging of author Ben Judah we have enough to go on to picture an eccentric yet typical day in the life of the man who ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Starting later than most, Putin likes to roll out of bed at 12pm and soon after eat. Cottage cheese is always on the table alongside an omelette or porridge.

The best kind of breakfast for Putin however involves a dish of quail eggs. which he washes down with fruit juice.

As with everything he eats, a food tester will first sample the above to make sure it has not been laced with poison.

Everything, of course, is served as fresh as can be from the farmland estates of the Russia's Orthodox religious leader Patriarch Kirill.

The first meal of the day is followed by a swig of coffee ahead of a two hour swim during which time he gets most of his thinking done, Putin's political assistants suggest.

All the while the President is in the water his courtiers are made to pass the time in lacquered wood waiting rooms for up to four hours if the swim is followed up with a work out.

Russian news is on the TV as the 69-year-old pumps iron in preparation for his next bizarre topless photoshoot.

Finally Putin gets to work with his team who bring briefing notes and newspapers to his hefty wooden desk with no computers in sight.

Fearing any online security leaks, everything is conducted on paper in red folders with the exception of phone calls made exclusively on fixed-line Soviet War era telephones.

Putin is obsessed with information which explains his work routine of reading three thick leather-bound folders which include a report on the home front, international affairs and the court.

Then it is a case of brushing up on the day's news with Russia's popular tabloids and lightly-censored broadsheets.

The leader's courtiers say he loves reading columns about him penned by Andrey Kolesnikov in Kommersant and always reads right to the end.

Eating habits for the rest of the day are a little less clear than breakfast as contradictions surround what Putin is said to avoid.

The former official propaganda rag of the Soviet Union's Communist Party, Pravda claims Putin sticks to a super healthy diet of tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce.

And despite loving mutton more than any other meats, the President's go-to is fish. Sweets are said to be completely off the menu.

For more incredible stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here

At home however his busy schedule can often mean lunches and dinners fall by the wayside.

But when travelling around Russia Putin is said to eat fruit and drink kefir which is a type of fermented milk created in the Caucasus Mountains.

According to his ex-wife Ludmila Putina, waiting for Putin with a glass of kefir on the kitchen table was a tried and tested method of getting his attention.