Putin has cancer, survived assassination attempt in March, claims US intelligence report

Russian President Vladimir Putin (File Photo)

Russian President Vladimir Putin was treated for cancer in April and survived an assassination attempt in March, according to a US intelligence report. Three US intelligence readers who read the classified report spoke to Newsweek about it, confirming that there was an attempt on Putin’s life shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Claims of an assassination attempt on Putin line up with what a Ukrainian military official had earlier said. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Chief Intelligence Directorate, told Ukrainska Pravda in May: “There was an attempt to assassinate Putin… He was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not so long ago.

“This attempt was unsuccessful. There was no publicity about this event, but it took place,” he said.

A high-ranking US official with access to the intelligence report told Newsweek that Putin’s grip on power is no longer absolute.

"Putin's grip is strong but no longer absolute," the officer said. "The jockeying inside the Kremlin has never been more intense during his rule, everyone sensing that the end is near."

Newsweek did not name the three officials, only identifying them as one from the office of the Director of National Intelligence, one a retired Air Force senior officer, and one from the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The sources said that Putin’s health is a subject of scrutiny by the Biden administration. There has been much speculation about the health of the Russian president, with unconfirmed reports indicating that he handed over power temporarily while undergoing treatment for cancer earlier this year.

While the report US intelligence report indicated that Putin has re-emerged after undergoing treatment in April, all three officers cautioned that his isolation has made it difficult to assess his health and status.

The unnamed Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, however, said that Putin’s declining health could be a good thing. "Putin being sick or dying is good for the world, not just because of the future of Russia or ending the Ukraine war, but in diminishing the mad man threat of nuclear war.

"A weakened Putin—an obviously declining leader, not one at the top of his game—has less influence over his advisors and subordinates, say, if he orders the use of nukes,” the DIA leader said.

"Putin is definitely sick ... whether he's going to die soon is mere speculation,” the official added.