Who is Nikolai Patrushev? Hardliner tipped to lead Russia while Putin has 'cancer surgery'
According to a "Kremlin insider", Vladimir Putin may take a break from the Ukraine invasion for a few days while he prepares for his cancer surgery. However, he is not going to stop the war, rather is said to give control of the operation to his hardline security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a former KGB counterintelligence officer. Patrushev, 70, is reportedly the man who persuaded Putin that Kyiv was filled with neo-Nazis. He is also regarded as a key architect of Russia's invasion strategy in Ukraine.
Patrushev hailed from a military background and was born in June 1951, just a few months before Putin. His parents had survived the Nazi siege and opted to start a fresh life after the war in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). The echoes of Russia's terrible imperial past haunted the young Patrushev in the Soviet era. As we all know, he is the driving force behind the invasion of Ukraine, it is well understood that Russia will go to any length to achieve its aim of rebuilding not only Ukraine but Europe and the rest of the world.
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What happened to Putin?
Vladimir Putin, 69, is said to have postponed his surgery, which is now unlikely to happen before he presides over the massive Red Square on May 9, Victory Day, which is the commemoration of Hitler's defeat. The procedure was supposed to take place in the second half of April but was allegedly postponed. "Putin was recommended to undergo surgery, the date of which is being discussed and agreed,” according to a report from the site which claims to have insider Kremlin knowledge. “There seems to be no particular urgency, but it cannot be delayed either.”
“The Russian President Vladimir Putin has oncology, and the latest problems identified during [his latest] examination are associated with this disease,” it continued. Putin's medical difficulties have long been disputed by the Kremlin, which presents him in good condition despite repeated odd absences in recent years. However, ex-MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove recently said that there is often a correlation between the sickness and a "loss of restraint".
Sir Dearlove, who led the intelligence service from 1999 to 2004, said, "Maybe Putin’s behavior, maybe his rationality, is prejudiced or compromised by illness.” He added, "The best explanation, that we don’t know whether it’s correct or not, is that he may have Parkinson’s. That certainly I’ve heard from several neurologists who say that loss of restraint, psychosis, are very common Parkinson’s symptoms."
