As Russian President Vladimir Putin's shaky public appearances continue to fuel speculation that he is ill, a Telegram account allegedly run by a former Russian Foreign Intelligence Service lieutenant general claims that the Russian leader is about to have surgery to remove cancer.
The latest claim about Putin's health was made on a Telegram social media channel under the pseudonym ''Viktor Mikhailovich,'' the New York Post reports.
The channel posted on Saturday that the surgery recovery could cause Putin to temporarily transfer control of the government to the secretary of Russia's security council, Nikolai Patrushev.
According to a post made to the account on Thursday, Putin had a two-hour conversation with Patrushev and ''made it clear'' that he views him as ''almost the only truly confidant and friend in the system of power.''
Putin allegedly told Patrushev that if there were a ''sharp deterioration'' in his health, control of Russia would ''temporarily'' be given to him.
Cancer has been among several speculative diagnoses of Putin that have been made in the last few weeks, with some of the others including Parkinson's disease and dementia.
According to Newsweek, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin had undergone surgery for thyroid cancer in April, saying he was in ''excellent'' health.
A circulating clip of Putin gripping the corner of a table with his right hand while meeting with Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, added to the rumors.
The Russian investigative outlet The Project recently reported that the Russian leader has been examined by oncologist Yevgeny Selivanov 35 times in the past few years.
Olga Lautman, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told Newsweek that she doubted there was any truth to the rumor about Putin being ill.
''Russia is a very controlled society and has full control over information, especially when it involves Kremlin officials,'' she said. ''I think that Putin coming out and exhibiting symptoms of sickness was more theatrics and distraction.''
''If Putin was really ill, he wouldn't want people surrounding him to know,'' she added.
According to Lautman, the Kremlin could be promoting the idea of an apparently ailing leader among the Russian people ''so there is no need for them to get concerned with his iron rule.''
The latest images could also be a way for Putin to monitor whether any individuals or groups ''are attempting to make a power grab,'' or could be a way ''to lay the groundwork for putting a new face on the Kremlin,'' Lautman told Newsweek.
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