Russian President Vladimir Putin may be forced to temporarily relinquish control of the war in Ukraine following surgery to remove a cancer that afflicts him. according to “Kremlin insiders” quoted by the British newspaper Daily Mail.
(Vladimir Putin: video of the president revives rumors regarding his health)
Putin will reportedly nominate as his temporary successor Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia’s Security Council and a hard-line former FSB chief.
(Putin threatens countries that support Ukraine with ‘lightning attacks’)
Patrushev, 70, is singled out as one of the architects of the war strategy so far, and the man who convinced Putin that “kyiv is awash with neo-Nazis.”
According to the British media, Putin would have abdominal cancer and Parkinson’s 18 months ago.
Moscow has reportedly been delaying the surgery originally scheduled for the second half of April, but now it will not take place before the commemoration of Victory Day, which falls on May 9 and marks the triumph of the then Soviet Union in the Second World War.
“Putin was recommended to undergo surgery, the date of which is being discussed and agreed upon,” the outlet said. “There doesn’t seem to be any particular urgency, but it can’t be delayed either.”
The source continued, “I don’t know exactly how long (he will be incapacitated following surgery)…”
The Kremlin has always adamantly denied that Putin has any medical problems and claims he is in good health, even when he has been mysteriously absent in recent years.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
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