Some people saw this as more proof of Putin's supposed health problems. It was one of a number of strange things Putin has done that Kremlinologists and Western intelligence agencies say back up reports that the Russian strongman is dying quickly, most likely from cancer.

Even though both the head of the CIA, William Burns, and the head of Britain's MI6, Richard Moore, have said the opposite, there is a lot of speculation.

Burns said in July at the Aspen Security Forum that the former KGB agent who became president was "entirely too healthy."

Moore, who spoke at the same conference but at a different time, was more direct.

He said, "There's no evidence that Putin's health is bad."

Putin's tone was sad when he spoke to a crowd of young Russians on Monday.

The Russian President said, "There is a saying, and whoever told me about it, I promised I would say it out loud in public someday."

"You have to live for something you'd be willing to die for, as strange as that may seem in your humanitarian field," he said.

He said this while people from Russia's far-flung provinces keep dying in Ukraine and the strongman avoids a general draft that would bring in people from the middle class.

Even though Russia hasn't said how many people have died on the battlefield since March, Western estimates put the number at more than 15,000.