President Vladimir Putin's grip on power is slipping and he has to take regular breaks for medical treatment, former British spy Christopher Steele has recounted.
"We understand that there is increasing disorder and chaos in the Kremlin," Steele said in an interview with Britain's LBC radio network last week. "There is no clear political leadership coming from Putin, who is getting sicker and sicker, and in military terms, the command structures and so on are not working as they should," the expia added.
Steele is a former MI6 agent who worked for many years in Russia, including running the spy agency's Russian bureau for three years. He didn't cite his sources, but said he was "pretty sure" of his claims.
Putin's main spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has repeatedly denied any health problems for the Russian leader.
"What we do know is that a team of doctors is with him constantly," Steele said. Government meetings, many of which are televised, must be divided into sections so that Putin can go out and receive regular treatments, Steele said.
"It's certainly having a very serious impact on the government of Russia right now," he said. Putin is unlikely to pull out of Ukraine "because of the kind of political corner he's gotten himself into," Steele noted. He added, "It's probably driving his desire to solidify his legacy as he sees it."
Rumors about Putin's health have circulated for months. On May 14, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, told Sky News that Putin is "very sick" and suggested that a coup is underway in the Kremlin.
Those rumors increased after recent television appearances revealed that Putin appeared sore, restless and swollen. This led to speculation that the president might have dementia, Parkinson's or cancer.
In his LBC interview, Steele credited the Parkinson's rumor and said that Putin "probably" has Parkinson's. However, "we don't know the exact details of what his ailment is," Steele said.
In April, an in-depth investigation by the independent Russian outlet 'Proekt' also found, examining flight logs, that Putin has had a medical entourage for the past decade, with up to a dozen doctors with him at any one time. including numerous visits from a thyroid cancer specialist.
