# Does Putin really have cancer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 14, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411 "2022-05-14T13:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/1 "2022-05-14T13:42:19Z")
I’m starting to see articles on non-wacky news sources saying that he does. One taped oligarch even says he has “blood cancer”. Can anyone source something dependable discussing this? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/2 "2022-05-14T14:24:29Z")
Nothing dependable. That said, if one version of the rumor is that he needs surgery for his cancer and the other version is that he has blood cancer, then one of those has to be false. There is no surgery for blood cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/3 "2022-05-14T14:34:28Z")
I should add, there were reports from good sources that Putin was in extreme quarantine during the pandemic. E.g.: > **[Russians Were Urged to Return to Normal Life. Except for Putin. (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/world/europe/putin-virus-russia-bubble.html)** > > The Russian leader claims to be conquering the pandemic, but he inhabits a virus-free bubble, rarely leaving home. The few people he meets must quarantine first. Beside that, there’s the strange video of him gripping the table (though, he could have done that on purpose to mess with people) and he became rather puffy/chubby during the pandemic, so he doesn’t seem to be getting the fitness that he used to. It seems somewhat likely that he is facing _some_ health issue, but that could be anything from cancer to gout to Parkinson’s, or just that he’s old, fat, and likes to spur rumors and conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/4 "2022-05-14T14:57:41Z")
This sounds _really_ reminiscent of all of the “Hillary Clinton is dying” rumors that were suddenly all over the Internet during the summer of 2016, and I expect they have roughly the same probability of being true. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/5 "2022-05-14T15:21:10Z")
In the unlikely event that he does have cancer, and a serious stage of it, that makes his invasion of Ukraine a lot more rational. He’d have nothing to lose. Either he conquers Ukraine, or else he loses but had little life remaining anyway. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/6 "2022-05-14T15:58:35Z")
Putin doesn’t HAVE cancer; he IS a cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/7 "2022-05-14T16:11:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > There is no surgery for blood cancer. Untrue, sorry. Many such patients may need splenectomy. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/8 "2022-05-14T16:12:46Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Untrue, sorry. Many such patients may need splenectomy. /Shakes fist at Google Curse you, gods! Curse you! ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/9 "2022-05-14T16:28:33Z")
If it’s not true, it’s intelligent propaganda on the part of the Ukrainians. It’s impossible to disprove, and if given any credence it works to undermine Putin’s authority. It recasts the “strong man” narrative to “dying man in last desperate gamble with nothing to lose”. It could give those in the chain of command greater pause if Putin gives orders to do something even more insane like deploying nukes. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/10 "2022-05-14T17:16:12Z")
Someone be could be trying to poison him slowly. I hear it’s the Russian preferred way of assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/11 "2022-05-14T17:43:44Z")
The rumors of illness have certainly been persistent, haven’t they? The ones I’ve most commonly seen advanced are 1) Parkinson’s Disease and 2) some unspecified cancer. This thread is the first I’ve seen alleging “blood cancer”. Here’s the most “dependable” recent source I’ve seen (and it ain’t much): > **[Putin 'Very Sick' With Cancer, Other Health Issues: Ukrainian Official](https://www.newsweek.com/putin-very-sick-cancer-other-health-issues-ukrainian-official-1706606)** > > The Kremlin has continuously insisted that Putin is in good health. Obviously there is little confirmed amidst all this speculation. Even before discussion of Putin’s state of health became a regular topic of conversation, I remember being struck at how changed his appearance is now compared to, say, Helsinki in mid 2018. The facial puffiness made me think of steroids. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/12 "2022-05-14T17:49:34Z")
The only way for Putin to dispel these rumors is to lead the next Russian offensive shirtless on a horse. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/13 "2022-05-14T17:49:53Z")
A day doesn’t go by without my praying for Putin’s death, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. That warmongering pig has done more to ruin Russia than any of his worst predecessors. Nostradamus was right about the coming of the Antichrist, and it’s Putin. I disagree with those who compare him to Stalin or Hitler. The closest analog is Heinrich Himmler, another piece of shit who may have been a great spymaster and organizer of mass murder but failed utterly as a military commander. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/14 "2022-05-14T17:58:52Z")
Those that know don’t talk and those that talk don’t know. I wouldn’t trust anything the Kremlin says any more than I believed Ronnie Jackson when he gave the briefing on Donnie’s health. I’m not sure if I want him to die because we aren’t sure that the next guy won’t be worse. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/15 "2022-05-14T18:33:52Z")
I’d be willing to roll those dice! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/16 "2022-05-14T19:01:47Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The only way for Putin to dispel these rumors is to lead the next Russian offensive shirtless on a horse. Sitting with a blanket during the Victory Day celebration goes against his carefully choreographed image as a macho man. This at a time when he is trying to show force. It makes me wonder if a power shift has already occurred and he was forced to show up like this in public as a sign. If that’s the case then he goes to the hospital for an operation and dies or has to step down publicly over poor health. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/17 "2022-05-14T20:06:58Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > reminiscent of all of the “Hillary Clinton is dying” rumors that were suddenly all over the Internet during the summer of 2016 Yeah, and it’s not like people pushing 70 must be at peak fighting fit or else ready for hospice care. Sometimes you are just sick or worn out but that’s not the end of it all. > [@Riemann](#): > > only way for Putin to dispel these rumors is to lead the next Russian offensive shirtless on a horse While the troops broadcast it live on their personal smartphones… y’know, to make sure _everyone_ knows and can pinpoint where it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/18 "2022-05-14T20:12:31Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > reminiscent of all of the “Hillary Clinton is dying” rumors that were suddenly all over the Internet during the summer of 2016 Except none of that reached anything like the mainstream press. It was clearly just wishful thinking by the crazier segment of the opposition. This seems like more than wishful thinking, how much more will no doubt be revealed in time. It isn’t wishful thinking to believe that Putin is surrounded by sharks waiting for an opening, and an illness might be enough of one. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/19 "2022-05-14T20:27:15Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > The facial puffiness made me think of steroids. That was my thought too - very reminiscent of the French President Pompidou in his last illness And I see others have made the same comparison: > ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2022, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411/20 "2022-05-14T20:31:43Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If that’s the case then he goes to the hospital for an operation and dies or has to step down publicly over poor health. He has to feel he’s in a precarious position. He’s coup-proofed himself as much as anyone could, but he’s still having high ranking people arrested and keeping himself in a bubble. If he felt safe, he’d relax. Whether or not he actually is safe, he clearly doesn’t feel it. So I wonder if, in the current circumstances, he would ever allow himself the vulnerability of being anesthetized for however many hours it would take to complete a hypothetical procedure. Given the skullduggery that always seems to lurk behind Russian political succession, he would have to know some people would see it as an opportunity. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-putin-really-have-cancer/964411.md?page=2)