‘ENTIRELY TOO HEALTHY’

CIA Director: No, Putin Isn’t Dying

Rumors about Putin’s health have circulated for years and have picked up steam since he invaded Ukraine.

Reign in your excitement—Putin likely doesn’t have cancer, hasn’t been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and certainly isn’t dead. Or at least CIA Director William Burns doesn’t think so, telling NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell that the Russian president is “entirely too healthy.” Rumors about Putin’s health have circulated for years and only grown stronger since he invaded Ukraine in February, but Burns clarified that he does not think they hold much weight. Though he specified that his statement, made at the Aspen Security Forum, was “not a formal intelligence judgment,” POLITICO reports that it will still likely tamp down the gossip and clarify the true state of Putin’s grip on power.