Putin took cancer drugs that warped his decision-making on Ukraine, Danish intel says, reviving disputed theories about his health

• A Danish intelligence official mentioned Putin was taking thyroid-cancer medication in February 2022.

• He advised Danish media the medication could cause “delusions of grandeur” and will have warped his considering.

• Rumors of Putin being sick have abounded, however consultants say they’ve but to see credible proof.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking thyroid-cancer medication that will have warped his decision-making when he determined to invade Ukraine, in accordance with a senior Danish military-intelligence official.

The declare was reported by the Danish newspaper Berlingske based mostly on an interview with the pinnacle of the Russia evaluation crew for its nationwide protection intelligence company, Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE).

The official was referred to solely by his first identify, Joakim, citing safety causes. He advised the newspaper that Putin was taking hormones to deal with thyroid most cancers in February 2022, and that it doubtless affected his psychological capability.

He mentioned “delusions of grandeur” are a identified facet impact of the kind of hormone remedy that he believes Putin was on on the time.

“It is not one thing I can say for sure, however I believe it did have an effect on his selections when he launched the struggle in Ukraine,”  he advised the newspaper.

He didn’t go into particulars in regards to the particular hormone remedy however added that it could even have contributed to the “moon-shaped face” Putin had at first of the yr.

He didn’t give particulars of how his company got here to imagine that idea.

Hypothesis has abounded because the begin of the invasion that Putin is sick, based mostly on Russian media reporting, interviews with former Western officers, and claims by Ukraine.

None have been backed up by clear proof, and lots of consultants have been hesitant to attract robust conclusions.

Tabloid media and quite a lot of commentators have additionally pointed to Putin’s bloated-seemed face when discussing his well being.

Former Director of Nationwide Intelligence James Clapper advised Insider for an article in Could that the bloating did certainly elevate questions as as to whether Putin was receiving a medical remedy that may trigger swelling. Clapper, nevertheless, mentioned he doubted that the US intelligence neighborhood knew for positive if the Russian chief was sick.

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Jeffrey Edmonds, former director for Russia on the Nationwide Safety Council and an ex-CIA navy analyst, additionally spoke to Insider for the Could article. He mentioned that he had not seen something “actually credible” to recommend that Putin was severely unwell.

The Danish official additionally spoke to Berlingske in guarded language, asserting that experiences of Putin having had thyroid most cancers have been “undoubtedly a great wager.”

He mentioned that his company doesn’t imagine that Putin has a terminal sickness.

One other idea is that Putin is affected by Parkinson’s illness, for which advocates cite a video displaying Putin gripping onto a desk throughout a gathering with Russian protection minister Sergei Shoigu.

John Hardy, a neurogeneticist on the UK Dementia Analysis Institute, dismissed these claims whereas talking to the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle in March. “No signal of parkinsonism for my part,” he mentioned.

Joakin mentioned his company has a unique idea for the table-gripping: that Putin is affected by power ache after a sequence of falls and accidents.

“That is power ache that he has suffered from for fairly a while now,” he advised Berlingske. “That is why he tends to take a seat and seize issues tightly. It is to ease the ache.”

For Insider’s Could article on Putin’s well being, retired US brigadier common and former protection attaché to Russia Kevin Ryan advised Insider that the beginning of the Ukraine struggle couldn’t solely be solely attributed to Putin or his well being.

“After all everybody goes to die, however I do not assume this struggle is the creation of solely Putin,” Ryan mentioned, including, “His demise would possibly have an effect on its course, however the ruling circle which supported him will nonetheless be there.”

The pinnacle of the UK armed forces mentioned in July that theories about Putin being badly sick or at imminent danger of dropping energy have been doubtless resulting from “wishful considering” by his enemies.

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