Russian President Vladimir Putin received treatment for advanced cancer in April, three U.S. intelligence officials told Newsweek.
Amid ongoing speculation about the health of the 69-year-old Russian leader, an evaluation by the intelligence service in Washington reported that he was recovering from the cancer treatment he received two months ago, Newsweek reported.
The intelligence report also confirmed a plot to assassinate Putin in March, the organization said.
Senior officials – one from the office of the director of National Intelligence, another retired officer from the Air Force and one from the Defense Intelligence Agency – who saw the classified report told Newsweek fears that Putin’s paranoia about staying in power could make things worse for Ukraine.
But it is also what can deter him from launching a nuclear war.
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“Putin’s grip is strong but no longer absolute,” said one of the top intelligence officials. “The jockey inside the Kremlin has never been more intense during his tenure, everyone feels the end is near.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently addressed widespread rumors that Mr Putin was suffering from cancer.
In response to French broadcaster TF1, Mr Lavrov said: “I don’t think healthy people can see in this person signs of any kind of illness or ailment.”
He went on to say that Putin, who turns 70 in October, appears in public “every day” before adding: “
“I leave it to the conscience of those who spread these rumors.”
Rumors have been circulating in recent months that Mr Putin was suffering from cancer or was in poor health as images emerged of him in a weakened state. An image shows him holding on to a conference table with his right hand as he hides in a chair.
An unnamed oligarch was recently reported saying the 69-year-old Russian president is “very ill with blood cancer,” according to New Lines magazine.
And it has been widely reported that the FSB, Russia’s state intelligence agency, was told not to speculate on the leader’s health, which had the opposite effect and submerged the base. in rumors, according to the Russian research channel Proyekt.
Other intelligence sources quoted in Western reports have suggested that he may be ill now. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, told television that Putin had “cancer and other illnesses” and was in “very poor psychological and physical condition.”
Ashley Grossman, a professor of endocrinology at Oxford University, told New Lines that Putin had developed a “cushingoid” appearance that is “compatible with steroid use.”
He stressed that steroids can be prescribed for some forms of blood cancer, and also that a high dose of steroids would make a person more likely to take Covid-19, after reports that Putin was very cautious about getting it. the disease for several years.
However, no clear and incontrovertible evidence has been presented of any specific statements about Mr Putin’s health.