Vladimir Putin is being kept alive to continue the Ukraine war, it has been claimed. (AFP File Photo)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving Western treatment in his battle against cancer, according to a report in the New York Post. Russian historian and political analyst Valery Solovey said the 70-year-old is allegedly being kept alive by medicines made in the West to slow the cancer's spread. Mr Putin's health has always been an area of interest across the globe and is in renewed focus since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year. Several videos in recent months have revealed the deteriorating physical condition of Mr Putin.
Now, in a damning claim, Solovey said, "I can say that without this foreign treatment he would definitely not have been in public life in the Russian Federation," according to the Post.
"He uses the most advanced treatments, and target therapy which Russia cannot provide him with," the historian added.
However, Solovey claimed that despite the cutting-edge treatment, doctors are not very optimistic about his state of health in the future.
"I would say that the treatment has been too successful. They have been treating him too well. However, the end is already in sight, even according to the doctors who are curating this treatment, because no medication can be endlessly successful," the political analyst was quoted as saying by Spanish news outlet Marca.
It is believed that Mr Putin is battling both cancer and Parkinson's disease.
"I can confirm he has been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's disease, but it's already progressing," a Russian security service insider reportedly claimed in leaked Kremlin emails.
"This fact will be denied in every possible way and hidden," the source had said in the November emails, according to Marca.