MI-5 crunches out another Putin is dying story through their assets in the British press. The Daily Mail has considerable following in the U.S. due to their reporting on stories like black on white crime that the American mainstream media seldom mention. That is the hook that brings in conservatives to read the Daily Mail’s disinformation stories.
“He’s been dying of the same heart attack for the last twenty years.”
Notably, several years ago, on a visit to France for a meeting with Macron, extraordinary arrangements were made for Putin's bodily waste to be collected, placed in a sealed briefcase, and transported back to Russia by diplomatic courier lest any clues be left for prying Western intelligence services. Those are not the precautions of a man in good health but, along with other signs, suggest that one or more serious, likely terminal ailments are at work.
What ailments? Parkinson's Disease is a good fit as to Putin's stiffness, changed patterns of thinking, and apparent mental decline. Paranoia, rigidity in thinking, and episodic confusion are common features of Parkinson's. In addition, cancer of some sort would account for variations in Putin's energy and gaps in his schedule due to treatment sessions.
Do Western intel services know the truth? Probably, with timely leaks to the Daily Mail and other venues a way to energize Putin's internal opponents and warn them that he is incapable of contriving a deliverance for Russia from an eventual defeat in Ukraine.