14 DAY TRIAL // After rumors in Western press have reached an alarming rate regarding Vladimir Putin's state of health and how he has cancer in terminal stage, the Kremlin is coming out today with statements that the President isn't sick.
The Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov is quoted by the Daily Mail when he says, not without some anger in his voice, “Dream on – and curse their tongues. Everything is normal.” The spokesman was asked why the New York Post published a report last week which spread in the media, but he refused to give any details.
Western media is saying Putin is dying, the Russians are strongly denying it
Several sources with connections in the Kremlin have confirmed that the President's health is deteriorating as he is plagued by pancreatic cancer, widely considered to be one of the most lethal forms of cancer out there.
For years, the President was reportedly treated by an East German specialist he met in Dresden back in the days he was still working for the KGB, but the doctor in question has recently quit, presumably because he was mistreated by Putin's security staff.
Others have suggested that the doctor decided to leave now, before the President's health gets too bad and he gets the blame, should he die. His treatments were all experimental and included steroid shots that experts claim account for Putin's puffy looks lately.
Several reports indicate Putin is making final plans, clearing his conscience
There are several other facts that support this theory that is being vehemently denied by Moscow officials. One would be the fact that Putin has decided to take a Siberian break for his birthday this year, something that he hasn't done in the 14 years he's been in power in Russia.
Another worrying fact is that he chose to release from prison his old accomplice, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who had been incarcerated for the past 10 years. Many in Russia and the West have interpreted this move as a way of clearing his conscience, something usually typical of men on their death bed.
Analysts have taken to mean that Putin's rapidly evolving ailment is causing this rapid shift in Russia's external policies and why the Ukrainian conflict has escalated so quickly over the summer. If this is so, we can expect further turmoil in the region, but also in other neighboring countries, since Putin is said to be keen to leave a legacy of enlarged borders for Russia.
For the moment, we will have to go with the official statement from Moscow and believe that President Putin is as fit as a bull, an image he has been keen to project for years.