Vladimir Putin cancelled a much-anticipated Ukraine war speech under mysterious circumstances.
As the world awaited what was expected to be a "momentous" announcement over the full mobilisation of the Russian military, the leader failed to appear.
The Russian leader had planned a direct speech to the nation tonight, which would mark the first since the invasion of Ukraine in February.
A move to fully mobilise the Russian military would see up to two million reservists scrambled to join his operation.
His latest absence comes after it was claimed last month the thug leader was "no longer attending meetings" due to a 'sharp deterioration' in his health.
Speculation has suggested he could be dealing with cancer or Parkinson's - insiders claim that his security officials have delivered the news to Putin that he has run out of “good” options.
Putin's recorded address is now expected to be shown on September 21, when the Far East "wakes up" - according to Forbes, citing two sources in the Presidential Administration.
The news comes after Dmitry Medvedev, a staunch Putin ally, vowed that 'all forces of self-defence' will be used to protect what he called 'Russian territory' — hinting at an escalation in Ukraine.
His cancelled speech comes as Russia's parliament approved a bill to toughen punishments for crimes such as desertion, damage to military property and noncompliance if they are committed during military mobilisation or combat situations.
As a result, those found guilty would face longer prison sentences.
The bill was passed in its second and third readings on Tuesday by the Duma.
Mobilisation of the country would also see a move towards the Russian operation in Ukraine being seen more as an outright declaration of war as opposed to its current branding as a 'special military operation'.
It follows intense pressure on Putin from hardliners to declare war, instead of a special military operation as they have been calling it, and mobilise men of military age to join the army.
“Judging by what is happening and what is about to happen, this week marks either the eve of our imminent victory or the eve of nuclear war,” leading propagandist Margarita Simonyan said.
According to a copy of the bill, seen by Reuters, voluntary surrender would become a crime for Russian military personnel, punishable by 10 years in prison.
Failure to comply with an order during martial law will be punished by imprisonment for a term of two to three years.
Lawyer Pavel Chikov said the package shows Putin is introducing the concepts of "mobilisation", "martial law" and "wartime" in the Criminal Code.