Russian President Vladimir Putin is fighting cancer and receiving aggressive treatment as he periodically stops making public appearances and has also possibly survived an assassination attempt, US intelligence experts have opined. But the Kremlin has stoutly denied such reports.

The US intelligence community believes that Putin is suffering and he’s being treated for cancer, according to an assessment by the Newsweek.Attributed by the weekly to high-ranking officials at three separate intelligence agencies, comes after months of speculation that the Russian strongman is suffering from terminal ailments.”Putin is definitely sick,” an official from the office of the Director of National Intelligence told the outlet, while noting, whether he’s going to die soon is “mere speculation”.Two other officials, one from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and a retired Air Force officer, also claimed to have access to a comprehensive intelligence assessment of Putin’s health, and said the outlook for the Russian leader is bleak, according to the report.The assessment supports the theory that Putin was missing from the world stage for much of April because he was undergoing treatment for advanced cancer, the report said.”Is Putin sick? Absolutely,” the retired Air Force officer said. “But we shouldn’t let waiting for his death drive proactive actions on our part. A power vacuum after Putin could be very dangerous for the world.”The intelligence community also reportedly believes that Putin is increasingly paranoid about his hold on powerand that he may have survived an assassination attempt in March. “Putin’s grip is strong but no longer absolute,” one of the senior intelligence officers said. “The jockeying inside the Kremlin has never been more intense during his rule, everyone sensing that the end is near.”