I’m seeing lots of unconfirmed reports that Vladimir Putin has suffered a cardiac arrest. But there’s nothing definite and most of the sources leave me dubious. Here’s the link via MSN: MSN
Does anyone have better sources either confirming or disproving this news?
Hmm.
Nothing trivial i hope.
The Mirror, the Daily Kos, and the Daily Express are also reporting this.
The Daily Kos just retracted it for “misinformation relying on poor sourcing.”
It appears the original report was a Community post, so this doesn’t necessarily mean the report was wrong, just that it doesn’t meet their standards for reporting.
And tracing this to the Telegram channel that originally reported it, the person (a former Russian lieutenant-general) also states that all Putin’s recent appearances have been conducted by a body double, and that Putin’s personal doctors have told everyone he won’t live past fall.
So…maybe not the most reliable source?
A couple of observations. The report is more than 10 hours old, and no major news channel has picked up on it. Second, the report comes from a Telegram channel which also reported that it was a Putin body double and not Putin himself who made the recent visit to China to meet with Xi Jinping, which is preposterous. Can’t rule out the possibility that there’s some truth to the story, but I wouldn’t rely on that source for anything.
That’s what had me wondering. If it was breaking news, I’d have thought it was just not yet fully in the media system. But after 10 hours, it should be at least addressed by a reliable news service.
A false alarm, I guess.
How many Putin health crisis stories have we seen in the past couple of years? A dozen? None have come to fruition. Seems like a weird form of propaganda to me–but I can’t tell which side it benefits.
There’s your problem right there.
The “news” site that generates clicks.
Previous discussion about the Express:
There is certainly that. But the stories usually come from somewhere–some unnamed Ukranian official, or a Telegram post somewhere, or a leak from the Kremlin, or whatever. I guess probably has no higher purpose than putting noise into the intelligence environment, to make it more difficult for anyone to know what’s going on.
From a few links, Putin may have:
Blood cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Prostate cancer
Thyroid cancer
Some other terminal cancer
Parkinson’s disease
Fallen down a flight of stairs and shat himself
Some mental illness that makes him rigid, paranoid, and erratic
Schizoaffective disorder
Eczema
A stroke
Leprosy
And now a heart attack
I’m probably missing a bunch.
But did his shoes fall off?
Too bad. One can hope.
This seems quite believable to me: put it out there and see how his coterie reacts.
But what’s also believable is that it would be pushed by Ukraine, as a kind of “Russia is collapsing” propaganda message. Most propaganda has an obvious beneficiary (and thus origin), but not this.
Always consider the source. In this case, you’re better off consulting a Ouija board. I’m sure his doctor will say he’s in the best shape of any president in Russian history. The only way we’re going to find out if he has a terminal illness is if it actually reaches the terminus, and that will be after a new leader is selected and his rivals wind up falling from great heights.