The rumors that Putin is on death’s doorstep have sparked rampant speculation, contributed to propaganda messaging, and inspired media coverage; but the rumors remain unfounded, relying on photo and video analysis more than anything else.
Really, the rumors sound like wishful thinking.
The status of Putin’s health even appeared in documents released during last month’s “Jack the Dripper” leak.
“A document among the trove of leaked classified materials offers the latest example of fascination with Mr. Putin’s health,” The New York Times reported. “It describes a conversation between two Ukrainian officials about what one claimed was a conspiracy among Mr. Putin’s internal opponents to challenge his rule at a moment when he was said to be undergoing chemotherapy.”
However, the word within the US intelligence community is that Putin’s health is stable, that he’s not sick. The CIA director concurred. But the rumors persist.
Putin Rumors are to be expected
“Analysts called the public discussion of Mr. Putin’s well-being unsurprising,” The Times reported. “It is a predictable byproduct of the aura of mystery around powerful autocrats who keep their distance from observers and their personal lives well concealed,” said John Sipher, a former CIA official.
Sipher is on to something; Putin is one of many autocrats to attract bad health rumors. Take Kim Jong-un, the mysterious leader of North Korea (aka The Hermit Kingdom) who was rumored to have been ill, or even deceased. Similar rumors cropped up regarding China’s Xi Jinping when he shut down Chinese travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Kim Jong-un and Xi appear to be relatively healthy; the rumors were never confirmed.
“I’ve never put much stock in health talk,” Sipher said. “We’ve heard the same stuff for years. I just think that it’s always a discussion point in closed societies where they hide and lie about everything.”
The rumors about Putin appear to be more of the same; observers of Putin and Russia don’t seem to be taking the rumors seriously. “I’m deeply skeptical that Putin has some health problems likely to lead to his imminent death or incapacitation,” Professor Mark Galeotti told Newsweek. “There is a great deal of rumor, propaganda, and wishful thinking in play.”
Rumors are expansive
Rumors about Putin’s health have been especially rampant. Many of the rumors starting appearing right around the time Putin gave his forces the green light to invade Ukraine. Probably not a coincidence. For example, just one month into the conflict, a British tabloid reported that Putin was in “agony” and dying from cancer. The tabloid report relied upon an unnamed Pentagon source.
The idea that Putin had (or has) cancer seemed to have gained considerable traction. Last summer, three US intelligence officials declared that Putin had received treatment for cancer. Similarly, New Lines magazine reported that Putin was “very ill with blood cancer.”
The problem, however, is that there is no proof to back up the rumors.
The claims that Putin is sick are all reliant upon flimsy evidence.
Namely, the analysis of Putin during press conferences and speeches. The sources are just not credible.
Indeed, the idea that Putin is legitimately ill seems like wishful thinking from a western world who is tired of the autocrat’s policies.
Poster Comment:
Scott Ritter says the war in Ukraine is over.
Lots of good information in the links in story.
If Putin indeed has cancer he should look into history and Dr. Otto Warburg. Warburg was Hitler's personal physician. Hitler had polyps on his vocal chords when younger and was deathly afraid of cancer. Warburg was studying this. He was also making speeches against the Nazis and the SS wanted to take him to the camps. But they received a personal phone call from Hitler telling them, "Allow him to go back to his work." Warburg was awarded the Nobel prize for Medicine for his work in discovering a cure for cancer. But Hitler refused to allow him to pick it up because of the war. If he never picked it up, he forfeited, and it was awarded to someone else. The AMA covered this up to keep people on expensive and ineffective chemotherapy. There is no money in a cure.
The west doesn't know how good they have it with Putin running Russia. If his replacement is a Russian version of Hillary, then they really will start being afraid of WW3 and will try to raise Putin from the dead.
The west doesn't know how good they have it with Putin running Russia. If his replacement is a Russian version of Hillary, then they really will start being afraid of WW3 and will try to raise Putin from the dead.
I wonder if there is any truth to the rumor that Putin is taking Russian folk remedies to treat his cancer? There is talk he has been drinking deer antler blood. ;)
THIS IS ABSOLUTE CRAP. THE WAR IS NEARLY OVER BECAUSE THE UKRAINE IS RUNNING OUT OF GENTILES WILLING TO DIE. PUTIN HAS BEEN RUMORED TO BE SICK AND DYING FOR YEARS. IF PUTIN DID DIE SOMEONE A LOT MORE SERIOUS ABOUT DESTROYING NATO WOULD TAKE OVER.
The facts are that Putin has been struggling with cancer.
No, he's not. Putin is suffering from a lack of oxygen from laughing at Pedo Joe.
Leader of the Free World, man. 81 bazillion votes.
When my mother got that bad, my GF and I loaded her into the back of her silver Nissan whatever it was and took her to Mom's MD, then Hospital City - Randallia for a second opinion (mandatory), then to the Visiting Nurse Hospice to die.
Her TRAA ambulance insurance wouldn't allow her to be treated with dignity, so sack of potatoes it was.
My finest day.
“The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people’s door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy… but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone.”