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A Danish intelligence official said Putin was taking a thyroid cancer drug in February 2022.
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he told the Danish media The drug may have caused “delusions of grandeur” and distorted his thinking.
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Rumors abound that Putin is ill, but experts say they have yet to see reliable evidence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking thyroid cancer drugs when he decided to invade Ukraine, which may have distorted his decision-making, Danish military intelligence sources say. a senior official said.
Claim The Danish newspaper Berlinske reported Based on interviews with the head of the Russian analysis team at Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE), the Russian defense intelligence agency.
The official was referred to only by his first name, Joakim, for security reasons. He told the newspaper that Putin was taking hormones to treat thyroid cancer in February 2022, which likely affected his mental abilities.
He said “delusions of grandeur” were a known side effect of the hormone treatments Putin was undergoing at the time.
“I can’t say for sure, but I think it influenced his decision to start the war in Ukraine,” he told the newspaper.
He didn’t elaborate on specific hormone treatments, but added that they would have also contributed to the “moon-shaped face” Putin had earlier this year.
He did not give details of how his agency came to believe the theory.
Based on Russian media reports, interviews with former Western officials, and Ukrainian claims, speculation has been rife that Putin has been ill since the invasion began.
None are supported by clear evidence, and many experts hesitate to draw strong conclusions.
tabloid media and various commentators He also pointed out Putin’s bloated face when discussing his health.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told an insider An article in May actually raised the question of whether Putin was undergoing a treatment that caused his bloating. But Clapper said he didn’t think US intelligence knew for sure if the Russian leader was sick.
Jeffrey Edmonds, former director of Russia affairs at the National Security Council and former CIA military analyst, also told Insider about the May article. He said he had not seen anything “really credible” to suggest Putin was in serious condition.
The Danish official also spoke to Berlinske in understatement, claiming: Putin reportedly had thyroid cancer It was “definitely a good bet”.
His agency said it did not believe Putin had a terminal illness.
Another theory is that Putin is suffering Parkinson’s disease, Supporter quote video It shows Putin holding the table during a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.
John Hardy, a neurogeneticist at the British Dementia Research Institute, has dismissed these claims. German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle March. “In my view, there are no signs of Parkinsonism.
Joaquin said Putin is suffering from chronic pain after a series of falls and accidents.
“This is chronic pain that he has been suffering from for quite some time,” he told Berlinske.
Kevin Ryan, retired U.S. Brigadier General and former military attaché to Russia, for Insider’s May article on Putin’s health. told an insider The start of the Ukraine war was not solely due to Putin or his health.
“Of course everyone will die, but I don’t think this war was created solely by Putin,” Ryan said, adding, “His death may affect its course, but the ruling party that supported him It will still be there.”
chief of the british army said in July Theories that Putin is seriously ill or in imminent danger of losing power are likely due to “wishful thinking” by his enemies.
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