Putin has cancer – oligarch

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘‘very ill with blood cancer’’, an oligarch close to the Kremlin is reported to have said.

The unnamed oligarch was recorded discussing Putin’s health with a Western venture capitalist in mid-March in a recording obtained by American magazine New Lines.

He says in the recording that Putin had back surgery linked to his blood cancer shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine. He complains that the president has gone ‘‘crazy’’.

He says that there is deep dissatisfaction in Moscow about the state of Russia’s economy, and says ‘‘we all hope’’ that Putin dies.

There has been speculation about Putin’s health after he was seen walking with an apparent limp. Medical experts have said his puffy face could be a sign of using steroids, which can be prescribed as a cancer treatment. At last week’s Victory Day parade, he was wrapped in a wool blanket, prompting further rumours.

An investigation by Proyekt, an independent Russian publication, found that Putin is accompanied almost everywhere by three doctors skilled in cancer treatment, including an oncologist. It recently disclosed his habit of taking baths in blood from the antlers of young reindeer.