In September last year, on the sidelines of a military parade in Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin was captured by a hot mic, telling Chinese Premier Xi Jinping that humans could achieve immortality by replacing their organs. The conversation was generally dismissed as eccentric small talk between aging autocrats. But Wall Street Journal chief European political correspondent Bojan Pancevski decided to investigate. He's found that the Russian state is spending US$26 billion on Putin's quest for longevity.