By Ashe O New York, Aug 22 : Russian President Vladimir Putin is fighting cancer and receiving a hefty treatment, as he frequently stops making public appearances.He has also been able to escape an assassination attempt US intelligence officials have speculated.However, the Kremlin has denied the reports.
The US intelligence community believes Putin has been suffering, and is receiving treatment for cancer as per an assessment by Newsweek.
The weekly report has attributed the incident to officials of high-ranking at three different intelligence agencies, the report follows several months of speculation suggesting the Russian strongman is suffering from a terminal illness.
“Putin is certainly sick,” an official from the office of the Director of National Intelligence told the publication, while noting that whether he’ll pass away shortly is “mere speculation”.
Two other officials one of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and a former Air Force officer, also claimed that they have access to a complete intelligence evaluation of Putin’s health and stated that the prospects for the Russian leader is grim according to the report.
The study supports the notion that Putin was absent from the global stage during the majority of April due to the fact that he was receiving treatment for cancer that was advanced The report stated.
“Is Putin sick? Absolutely,” the retired Air Force officer stated.”But we shouldn’t let the anticipation for his death cause us to take proactive steps on our own.A power vacuum following Putin could be extremely dangerous for the entire world.”
The intelligence sector thinks that Putin is becoming increasingly sceptical about his power and that he might have survived the assassination attempt in March.”Putin’s hold on power is firm but not complete,” one of the top intelligence officers said.”The game of the Kremlin has never been more intense under his presidency, and everyone is senses that the end of the world is coming.”
They also warned that, as Putin has become more isolated, credible intelligence is becoming harder to find.”One important source of our most reliable intelligence is the contact with outsiders, has largely disappeared because of the Ukraine conflict,” the senior DIA official stated and noted that because Putin has less meeting with foreign leaders, there are less chances to know about his current situation.
In the meantime, CIA Director Bill Burns made a tongue in cheek comment in his unusually open assessment this week when he spoke to attendees at the annual Aspen Institute security conference that Putin is “entirely unhealthy”.
Burns took care to disqualify his remarks as a joke, saying they were not “a formal intelligence judgement.” However, when If asked directly whether Putin was unstable or unhealthy, he said: “There are a lot of reports about President Putin’s health and, as far as we know it’s completely healthy.”
So what can we think of speculations about Putin’s health? His body language, gait, and speech have been scrutinized incessantly.And each time Putin is absent from public view for a short period of time or makes a minor mistake, like he did last week after touching the ground in Tehran -it could trigger an avalanche of intense tabloid-style speculation about his health as The New York Post said.Without any clear replacement for Putin, Russia is always just a few breaths away from an entire political crisis.
The Kremlin frequently denounces any speculation regarding Putin’s health.In the last week, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin felt “fine” and was in “good health” before saying that speculations to the contrary as “nothing but a hoax”.
“We should be aware of the effects of false beliefs,” the retired Air Force leader stated.However, sources claimed that following a telecast in April in where the Russian leader was seen shaking the table during a talking with the Defence Minister the intelligence community informed the White House that Putin was in a state of illness and was likely to die.
Rumours of Putin’s imminent death were reported in the initial days of his invasion of Ukraine.
In the early days of April Russian investigative media publication The Project reported that Putin was extremely ill and was receiving frequent visits from a renowned Russian oncologist.
The US intelligence community is convinced that Putin is sick and has a tendency to avoid public appearances, despite denials from the Kremlin.
The story was confirmed by a variety of reports, including from Telegram channels that are believed to be closely aligned with Kremlin dissidents who claimed which claimed that the former KGB man was set to undergo a series of surgeries or was seeking an alternative successor according to The New York Post said adding that the DIA official has cautioned against underestimating the Russian President.
“He’s still a threat and chaos could be ahead in the event that he will die.We need to be focused on this.Be prepared,” he said.
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