Leaked documents from the Pentagon contain unconfirmed information about the illness of the Russian dictator, but so far there is no indication that the United States considers these claims credible, The New York Times reported.
Speculation about Vladimir Putin’s health continues. Now rumors of his alleged illness are further fueling reports from across the ocean.
Among the documents leaked from the Pentagon was a record of a conversation between two Ukrainian officials about what one said was an internal conspiracy by Putin’s opponents to challenge his rule while he was reportedly undergoing chemotherapy.
“The document does not indicate that the United States considers these claims credible,” writes The New York Times and recalls that in July last year, the CIA director denied speculations about Putin’s health.
The American daily also reminds that in recent years there has been speculation about the illness and even death of Kim Jong Un. Similar revelations pertained to Xi Jinping’s China, especially when he stopped traveling during the coronavirus pandemic.
– I never paid much attention to talking about health. We’ve been hearing the same things for years,” said John Sipher, who worked for the CIA for 28 years, including in Moscow.
Some analysts have suggested that Putin’s opponents are spreading misinformation to undermine his image as “energetic and menacing,” according to The New York Times.
In an interview with ABC News in early January, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Putin has cancer and will probably die soon. Two weeks later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked if the dictator was still alive. As one of the most important American newspapers suggests, the leak from the Pentagon is supposed to be another example of speculation.
“Fiction and falsehood,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last April when asked if Putin had cancer. This appears to be a rare point of agreement between Russian and American officials.