Christopher Steele, a former British spy, has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously ill. Steele, who wrote a dossier on Donald Trump and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election campaign, had told Sky News, Certainly, from what we’re hearing from sources in Russia and elsewhere, is that Putin is, in fact, quite seriously ill.
Amid all this, a Russian oligarch, having close ties with Putin, has reportedly said that the Russian leader is suffering from blood cancer in a leaked audio conversation. The unidentified oligarch was heard discussing Putin’s health with a Western venture capitalist, in the leaked audio recording obtained by a US magazine New Lines.
The Russian oligarch said that Putin had surgery on his back linked to his blood cancer shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian President has gone crazy, he added.
There have been intense speculations around the Russian President’s declining failing health ever since the Ukraine war and he looked frail at public events including the Victory Day celebrations last week.
Earlier this month, media reports claimed that the Russian President might undergo cancer surgery and will temporarily hand over power to hardline Security Council head and former Federal Security Branch (FSB) commander Nikolai Patrushev.