Putin allegedly has people who follow him around and collect his poo in a suitcase

Another day of things we didn't need to know...

Well then...

French investigative journalists Regis Gente and Mikhail Rubin claimed that Federal Protection Service (FPS) officers accompany the Kremlin leader on his international visits and collect his excrement in special bags, which are kept in a dedicated briefcase.

They further claimed that this has been the situation for years, and it's believed that this is to ensure that foreign adversaries are unable to learn private details about his health by testing his waste.

Farida Rustamova, an ex-BBC journalist, backed up the claims, adding that a source told her that this has been practiced since 1999, when Putin first came into power.

Rumours around the health of the Russian president have circulated for years.

Some claimed he had cancer, with others saying he had suffered from strokes, none of which has ever been confirmed.

Testing of foreign leaders' bodily waste is not something that is unheard of.

In 2016 the BBC reported that former Soviet agent Igor Atamanenko discovered that Josef Stalin had analysed Mao Zedong's waste when he visited the USSR.

In the 1940's, Stalin's secret police reportedly set up a department that was entirely dedicated to excrement testing.

Mao visited Moscow in 1949 and the secret police installed special toilets that directed to boxes where they collected the Chinese leader's waste.

The analysis could tell testers whether a person was calm or had a nervous disposition.

Another day of things we didn't need to know...