Vladimir Putin to undergo cancer surgery, transfer power
By
Snejana Farberov and
Evan Simko-Bednarski May 2, 2022 10:19am
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to undergo cancer surgery and temporarily hand over power to a hardline former federal police chief, according to a new report.
Putin will transfer control of Russia’s government to Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian federal police’s Security Council, while he is incapacitated during and after the procedure, according to a video from the mysterious Telegram channel “General SVR” on Saturday.
The channel — which is purportedly run by a former Russian Foreign Intelligence Service lieutenant general known by the pseudonym “Viktor Mikhailovich” — reported that Putin has been told by doctors that he must undergo an operation.
The anticipated surgery and recovery are expected to incapacitate Putin for “a short time,” according to the unconfirmed report.
Vladimir Putin will be incapacitated during and after the procedure.
Russian Presidential Press Service/Kremlin/Handout via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to undergo cancer surgery.
EPA/ALEXEI DANICHEV / KREMLIN POOL / SPUTNIK
Putin’s sickly appearance and uncharacteristically fidgety behavior in public have recently raised questions about his health.
Kremlin
“Putin is unlikely to agree to hand over power for a longer period of time,” the narrator of the video states, adding that the control of the country will likely be in Patrushev’s hands for no more than two to three days.
“I will say that this is the worst option,” the narrator adds. “Patrushev is an outright villain. He is no better than Vladimir Putin. Moreover, he is a more cunning, and I would say, more insidious person than Vladimir Putin. If he comes to power, Russians’ problems will only multiply.”
“Viktor Mikhailovich” ominously hinted that he and his allies “will make certain efforts so this does not happen, and I hope we will succeed.”
People climbing over debris at the Azovstal steel plant, in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine.
Azov Special Forces Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard via AP
Azov regiment members walk with civilians during UN-led evacuations from the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, May 1, 2022.
David Arakhamia/Azov Regiment/Handout via REUTERS
Dozens of refugees were expected to arrive at an evacuation point from Mariupol, including the Azovstal steel facility.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Asked about the report Monday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said it could not be confirmed.
“I have seen nothing that could help us corroborate that,” he said.
The video follows reporting from Russian investigative outlet The Project, which — in a sizeable report on the strongman’s vigor — claimed he has been seen by a cancer doctor 35 times in recent years. Putin has become so paranoid about his health, the outlet claimed, he has even turned to unconventional, and barbaric, therapies.
Putin is said to bathe in the blood extracted from deer antlers, which are hacked off while they are growing and still full of fresh blood, the outlet said. The sickening “antler baths” are an alternative therapy in the Altai region of Russia, which borders Khazakstan and Mongolia.
Believers say the baths improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skin, The Project explained.
Putin will transfer control of Russia’s government to Nikolai Patrushev.
© Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin Pool/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire
Nikolai Patrushev is head of the Russian federal police’s Security Council.
SERGEI KARPUKHIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Putin has been rumored to suffer from cancer and a host of other serious maladies.
Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Meanwhile, an oncologist, identified by the outlet as Evgeny Selivanov, has reportedly made dozens of secret visits to Putin’s Sochi getaway home over just four years.
see also
Who is Nikolai Patrushev, Russian reportedly in charge during Putin’s cancer recovery?
The report also suggests the Russian president secretly underwent surgery last autumn.
“In medical circles, it is believed that the president was undergoing a complicated procedure related to some kind of thyroid disease during this period.”
Saturday’s video claimed that Putin’s cancer is progressing, but the narrator darkly quipped that he doesn’t want to give viewers “false hope.”
Putin, 70, whose sickly appearance and uncharacteristically fidgety behavior in public have recently raised questions about his health, has been rumored to suffer from cancer and a host of other serious maladies, including Parkinson’s disease.
Putin’s suspected health problems come at a particularly inopportune moment, with the war in Ukraine now in its fourth month and Russia suffering heavy losses on the battlefield.
Internally displaced people sit in a bus after arriving from the frontline town of Orikhiv, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, May 2, 2022.
EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY
A boy from Mariupol looks out through the smashed windshield of his family’s car after arriving with his family at an evacuation point.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
In a Telegram post that appeared Thursday, it was alleged that Patrushev had had a two-hour “heart-to-heart” conversation with Putin.
“We know that Putin signaled to Patrushev that he considers him to be practically his only trusted ally and friend in the government,” the post claimed. “Additionally, the president promised that if his health takes a turn for the worse, actual control of the country will temporarily pass into Patrushev’s hands.”
In early April, the authors behind the Telegram channel claimed that Putin’s doctors had recommended surgery for later that month, but that did not happen.
An elderly man looks out as he sits in a bus after arriving from the frontline town of Orikhiv, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, May 2, 2022.
EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY
“General SVR” has been reporting on Putin’s supposed oncology diagnosis since at least November 2020, claiming that the Russian dictator suffers from bowel cancer.
New questions were raised about Putin’s physical state last month when he was seen tightly gripping a desk during his meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The Kremlin has consistently denied that Putin suffers from any medical problems.
