No, the current stable branch (v1.26.22) does not require the VC140 runtime libraries (only VC120, and it's packaged with the viewer anyway).
The experimental branch (v1.26.23) however does use VC140 libraries, but here again, they are part of the viewer installation and you therefore do not need any external library to run the viewer.
You will however need the gstreamer libraries to be able to play media within the viewer (see the
Windows installation howto).
Note also that you can perfectly install the VC140 runtimes on Windows 7, to run other viewers as well.
Get it from Micro$oft.