Russian President Vladimir Putin has clarified that while science may dramatically lengthen human life, true immortality is neither possible nor something he believes humanity will achieve. Speaking during an interview with India Today TV, he said that even though healthcare and emerging technologies can “100%” expand longevity, “everything has an end — only God is eternal.”
Putin explained that rapid advances in medical science have already transformed human life expectancy over the past century. Citing India as an example, he noted that average lifespan jumped from about 31 years in the mid-20th century to around 70 today, and infant mortality has fallen sharply. For him, these improvements prove that targeted progress in medicine can continue to add decades of healthy life.
He added that artificial intelligence will become a powerful accelerator in this field, particularly in precision healthcare and drug development, which he believes will “have a tremendous effect” on future life-extension efforts. However, he underlined that an extended lifespan does not equate to immortality, reiterating that every human life remains finite despite scientific progress.
The question was prompted by Putin’s viral hot-mic exchange with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on September 3, 2025. During the informal walk to a viewing platform for a World War II military parade — alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — microphones accidentally picked up a private discussion about breakthroughs in longevity science and life extension. The unexpected recording captured worldwide attention because it offered a rare glimpse into the personal interests of two major world leaders, far removed from their usual strategic and geopolitical rhetoric.
Putin later confirmed that he had been speaking about the possibility of extending active lifespan through medicine, and that the subject naturally came up due to China and Russia’s investment in biomedical research. The viral moment spread rapidly because of the unusual candidness of the conversation and the combination of the three leaders appearing together without formality.
In his latest comments, Putin has drawn a clear line between scientific progress and philosophical belief: technology may enable humans to live longer and healthier lives, but in his view, the nature of life is that it eventually ends.
