Rumors about Russian President Vladimir Putin's health and cancer have begun to circulate again, after hundreds of pages of US Defense Department documents were leaked that included files on the Ukraine war.
One of the leaked Pentagon files, found online on a social messaging platform called Discord, includes the claim that Ukraine learned on February 17 last year of an alleged Russian plot to wage war in Ukraine by March <> last year. He also stated in the dossier that this may be an attempt to harm the health of the Russian president when he was due to start a series of chemotherapy.
According to the leaked document, Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Secretary of the Russian National Security Council Nikolai Patrushev hatched a plan to affect Putin's health, noting that Gerasimov opposed the attack, and told Putin that the capabilities of Ukrainian forces exceed those of Russian forces, warning that Russia will suffer heavy losses if it continues to attack.
The confidential file said the information came from an anonymous Russian source who had access to Kremlin officials.
Newsweek noted that rumors about Putin's health and cancer have been circulating repeatedly since the start of his attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Some of Putin's public appearances, in which he appeared confused and sick, have sparked speculation about whether he is seriously ill.
Speaking to the magazine in June 2022, three US intelligence chiefs said they had read classified US reports that included Putin undergoing treatment for advanced cancer in April 3.
That same month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the Russian president had undergone surgery for thyroid cancer, saying Putin's health was "excellent."
Olga Lautman, senior researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told Newsweek in May 2022 that Putin's symptoms of the disease were more pronounced.