A former British spy told Sky News that sources have informed him that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "seriously ill."
"It's not clear exactly what this illness is - whether it's incurable or terminal, or whatever. But certainly, I think it's part of the equation," Christopher Steele said.
Steele is a former intelligence officer with MI6 and ran the agency's Russia desk from 2006 to 2009. He worked for MI6 for over 20 years from 1987 to 2009 when he retired, and is known more recently for "the Steele Dossier, a report that surfaced in January 2017 containing allegations of ties between Russia and the now former U.S. president Donald Trump," according to Newsweek.
The report comes just after Ukrainian Major General Kyrylo Budanov told Sky News that there is a "coup" underway to remove Putin from his leadership position, and claimed the president is in "very bad psychological and physical condition and he is very sick."
Rumors surrounding Putin's health have been circulating online the past few weeks, as an oligarch close to the Kremlin said Putin is "very ill with blood cancer," according to an audio recording obtained by News Line magazine. The specific type of cancer was not made clear.
"Needless to say, we are unable to independently confirm this allegation, Putin’s medical charts being notoriously difficult to come by," News Line said. "But the recording represents rare testimony by someone with proven ties to the Russian government that its fanatical dictator may well be seriously unwell. And the oligarch had no idea he was being recorded."
News Line was able to identify the oligarch by his voice, but chose to withhold his name "because of the high probability disclosing it would lead to state retaliation."
"Russia has imposed a sentence of 15 years imprisonment for those found guilty of spreading 'fake' information about the war in Ukraine, which is to say stating the facts about it," according to News Lines. "Oligarchs in particular have much to lose, given that their ability to earn and spend their hundreds of millions or billions is inextricably tied to their fealty to the Kremlin."
On March 13 there was a "top-secret memo" regarding Putin's health sent from the headquarters of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), the country's security agency, according to Christo Grozev, the head of investigations at Bellingcat, per News Line.
"The memo instructed the regional chiefs not to trust rumors about the president’s terminal condition," Grozev said. "The directors were further instructed to dispel any rumors to this effect that may spread within the local FSB units. According to a source at one of the regional units who saw the memo, this unprecedented instruction had the opposite effect, with most FSB officers suddenly coming to believe that Putin indeed suffers from a serious medical condition."
"When you see that happening, you think it's probably true. So, I think there is an element of his illness involved in this and his legacy," Steele said.
During the Moscow Victory Day Parade on May 9, some medical experts noticed Putin's "puffy face" and that he was "wrapped in a heavy wool blanket," according to The Times of London.
The news outlet also noted an investigation by Proyekt, an independent Russian publication, "found that Putin was accompanied almost everywhere by three doctors, including an oncologist, skilled in cancer treatment." Putin reportedly takes baths in blood of from antlers of young reindeer, an alternative treatment he was introduced to on a trip to Siberia.
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