Vladimir Putin may be seriously ill, a former intelligence officer now working for the Pentagon claims. The unnamed source says Russia's president has terminal bowel cancer.
It is believed Putin's “puffy face” is a sign he is having chemotherapy or on steroids. The source also suggests that his solemn expression is because he is in constant pain.
This could have made him more aggressive or he may be attacking Ukraine as he knows he is dying and wants to leave a legacy, the source claims. The former officer said analysts have been studying Putin, 69, and believe he is gravely ill, the Daily Star reports.
The source said: “In the past we have seen him smile, but in 2022 there are few pictures of him looking happy. His look suggests he is in pain and our people suggest his angry look is most likely as a result of him being in agony.
"Our people are confident he is ill – he is concerned about Covid as he keeps his staff at a distance.” Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, February 24.
Since then he has put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert, raising fears that nuclear war could be around the corner. The country's foreign minister also warned that if a third world war were to occur, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive.
It comes after former foreign secretary and medical doctor Lord Owen accused the president of using muscle-boosting drugs, after detailing how his face changed. Lord Owen told Times Radio: "Look at his face, see how that has changed - he now has an oval face. "People who said, oh, it's plastic surgery or Botox, I don't believe that at all."
Previous shots of the state leader show him riding topless on a horse, or fishing - and his face appears thinner. He went on to explain how steroids could alter the face shape and look.
He continued: "He's on either anabolic steroids as a bodybuilder - and he's very proud of his muscles and strips to the waist and everything like that - or he's on corticosteroids. "If you're on these drugs, this gives you this face.
"It reduces your immunity and makes you more vulnerable to Covid. This man has been in complete isolation, quite extraordinary, won't see anybody, stays miles away, tremendous pressures.
"Which indicates he's on a steroid and probably, maybe, a combination of both." Some experts have commented they believe Putin's isolation during the Covid pandemic has affected his mental state, pushing him to decide on invading Ukraine and sending thousands of troops across the border.
