Newsweek: Putin underwent treatment for cancer in April, and his health is the subject of intense talks in Washington

The American magazine (Newsweek) says that the health of Russian President Vladimir Putin was the subject of intense conversations within the administration of US President Joe Biden, after the intelligence community issued its fourth comprehensive assessment at the end of last May, and after it appeared that Putin re-emerged after undergoing treatment in April last April of advanced cancer.

And the magazine added - in an exclusive

to it - that 3 US intelligence leaders who read the reports assured her that the assessment also confirmed that an assassination attempt on Putin's life had taken place last March.

And it quoted a senior intelligence officer - who has direct access to secret intelligence reports - as saying that Putin's grip is strong, but it is no longer absolute, and "maneuvering inside the Kremlin is now more than at any other period of Putin's rule, as everyone felt that the end was near." .

anxiety in Washington

The report said that high-ranking officials representing three separate intelligence agencies are concerned that Putin is increasingly paranoid about his grip on power, a situation that makes the course of the war in Ukraine difficult and unpredictable, but they say this makes the prospects of nuclear war less likely.

The three officials (one from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the second a retired senior officer in the Air Force, and the last from the Defense Intelligence Agency) warned that the Russian leader's isolation makes it difficult for US intelligence to make an accurate assessment of Putin's condition and health. ) "What we know is that there is an iceberg, even if it is covered with fog."

The retired Air Force chief warned that they need to realize the effect of wishful thinking, saying, "We learned - or did not - this lesson the hard way with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein."

Evidence of his deteriorating health

The report mentioned some events, which it described as confirming that Putin's health is not well.

He said that the former image of Putin, carefully curated by official Moscow, and often used by the Kremlin to compare the Russian leader to his American counterparts, is an image of masculinity and vitality - such as riding horses and playing hockey - and then came the very long table that Putin used in the Kremlin to record photographs of his meetings The mission, which came to symbolize paranoia and physical fear.

He added that that table, which was the place of Putin's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, just two weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, became for the intelligence community the basis for measuring the decline in the health of the Russian president.

A senior Defense Intelligence Agency official says they noticed there was no handshake nor a warm hug, and that French intelligence had plenty of notes from the meeting and the trip to Moscow, and declined to go into detail about what was reported to the US government.

Then came Putin's April 21 meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Putin's health was not good, as he was lying in his chair and holding the table with his right hand.

in late stages

The magazine said that the analysis of many intelligence information from the White House agreed that Putin was ill in the late stages.

She added that Putin's appearance on "Victory Day" on the ninth of last May, where he sat noticeably swollen, shows that his health has faded, adding that the American intelligence community agreed that his situation was more dangerous than previously thought, and that he was completely exhausted.

The report indicates that after 3 days, the head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kirilu Budanov, told the British Sky News that Putin is "in a very bad psychological and physical condition, and he is very ill," adding that there are plans within the Kremlin to overthrow the Russian president.

He adds that at that time a rumor was confirmed that the Kremlin's security men had uncovered a Russian plot to assassinate Putin.

The CIA and foreign intelligence services were picking up consistent stories of the disagreement over the leadership of the national security ministries, as well as the desire of Russian diplomats to defect to the West.

A warning about jumping to results

Newsweek said that when serious intelligence began to circulate about Putin's illness, US leaders were warned not to jump to conclusions too quickly, reminded of examples of hot "intelligence" on Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein that shaped US policy and then proved dubious.

The magazine reported that the US intelligence community's latest assessment of President Biden and other senior leaders has seen a shift toward Putin after the previous report, compiled nearly two weeks ago, portrayed him as seriously ill.

On one day (last May 26) Putin made his first public visit to a military hospital in Moscow, had a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and spoke to a Russian business conference via video link.

And every appearance has been meticulously checked.

On Monday, Putin had a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and they discussed the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Previously Putin's image, carefully curated by official Moscow, is that of manliness, liveliness, riding horses and playing hockey (Arab Scientific Society Organization)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied any idea that Putin was ill in an interview on French television last weekend. "I don't think any reasonable person would suspect any signs of illness or disease in this man," Lavrov said, citing Putin's recent public appearance.

Just a pledge of allegiance

One US intelligence official commented that Lavrov's insistence that everything is normal is a declaration of loyalty to Putin and not any kind of diagnosis to listen to, and that Putin still faces "challenges" both on the health front and in his leadership.

After this story was published, the National Security Council sent Newsweek a statement attributed to National Security Council spokeswoman Adrian Watson saying, "Reports that any intelligence community assessments have been made or have been shared with the president are not true."

The chief defense intelligence chief said that even if they agreed that the intelligence that Putin was dying was credible, they should not rely on that or suggest support for Russia without Putin.

"Nuclear-armed Russia remains a nuclear-armed Russia, and whether Putin is strong or weak, at home or abroad, we do not wish to provoke him or his potential successor."

Putin's illness or death, he adds, is good for the world "not just because of Russia's future or the end of the Ukraine war, but in reducing the madman's risk of nuclear war."

And he concludes, "Putin is definitely sick (...) if he will die soon is just speculation. However, we should not rest assured, he is still dangerous, and chaos awaits us if he dies. We need to focus on that, be prepared."