Putin will have cancer surgery and hand over control to an ex-FSB commander, according to reports. -

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia April 21, 2022. — Putin will have cancer surgery and hand over control to an ex-FSB commander, according to reports.

According to a recent story, Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to undergo cancer surgery and temporarily hand over authority to a tough former federal police head.

According to a video posted on Saturday by the mysterious Telegram channel “General SVR,” Putin would hand over authority of Russia’s government to Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Russian federal police’s Security Council, while he remains paralyzed during and after the procedure.

Putin has been advised by physicians that he must undergo surgery, according to the channel, which is supposedly controlled by a former Russian Foreign Intelligence Service lieutenant general known under the alias “Viktor Mikhailovich.”

Putin is expected to be incapacitated for “a short period” as a result of the surgery and recovery, according to the unsubstantiated story.

“Putin is unlikely to agree to hand over power for a longer period of time,” the narrator of the video states, adding that the control of the country will likely be in Patrushev’s hands for no more than two to three days.

“I will say that this is the worst option,” the narrator adds. “Patrushev is an outright villain. He is no better than Vladimir Putin. Moreover, he is a more cunning, and I would say, more insidious person than Vladimir Putin. If he comes to power, Russians’ problems will only multiply.”

“Viktor Mikhailovich” ominously hinted that he and his allies “will make certain efforts so this does not happen, and I hope we will succeed.”

people climbing over debris at the Azovstal steel plant, in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. — People climbing over debris at the Azovstal steel plant, in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine.

Azov regiment members walk with civilians during UN-led evacuations from the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, after nearly two months of siege warfare on the city by Russia during its invasion, in Mariupol, Ukraine in this still image from handout video released May 1, 2022. — Azov regiment members walk with civilians during UN-led evacuations from the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, May 1, 2022.

Dina, 81 of Mariupol reacts after arriving by car at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and the surrounding towns under Russian control on May 02, 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. — Dozens of refugees were expected to arrive at an evacuation point from Mariupol, including the Azovstal steel facility.

The video follows reporting from Russian investigative outlet The Project, which — in a sizeable report on the strongman’s vigor — claimed he has been seen by a cancer doctor 35 times in recent years. Putin has become so paranoid about his health, the outlet claimed, he has even turned to unconventional, and barbaric, therapies.

Putin is said to bathe in the blood extracted from deer antlers, which are hacked off while they are growing and still full of fresh blood, the outlet said. The sickening “antler baths” are an alternative therapy in the Altai region of Russia, which borders Khazakstan and Mongolia.

Believers say the baths improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skin, The Project explained.

Russian Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev — Putin will transfer control of Russia’s government to Nikolai Patrushev.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev (L) looks at President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with the BRICS countries' senior officials in charge of security matters at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 26, 2015. — Nikolai Patrushev is head of the Russian federal police’s Security Council.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video conference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, April 29, 2022. — Putin has been rumored to suffer from cancer and a host of other serious maladies.

Meanwhile, an oncologist, identified by the outlet as Evgeny Selivanov, has reportedly made dozens of secret visits to Putin’s Sochi getaway home over just four years.

The report also suggests the Russian president secretly underwent surgery last autumn.

“In medical circles, it is believed that the president was undergoing a complicated procedure related to some kind of thyroid disease during this period.”

Internally displaced people sit in a bus after arriving from the frontline town of Orikhiv, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 02 May 2022 — Internally displaced people sit in a bus after arriving from the frontline town of Orikhiv, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, May 2, 2022.

Saturday’s video claimed that Putin’s cancer is progressing, but the narrator darkly quipped that he doesn’t want to give viewers “false hope.”

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Putin, 70, whose sickly appearance and uncharacteristically fidgety behavior in public have recently raised questions about his health, has been rumored to suffer from cancer and a host of other serious maladies, including Parkinson’s disease.

Putin’s suspected health problems come at a particularly inopportune moment, with the war in Ukraine now in its third month and Russia suffering heavy losses on the battlefield.

A boy from Mariupol looks out through the smashed windscreen of his family's car — A boy from Mariupol looks out through the smashed windshield of his family’s car after arriving with his family at an evacuation point.

In a Telegram post that appeared Thursday, it was alleged that Patrushev had had a two-hour “heart-to-heart” conversation with Putin.

“We know that Putin signaled to Patrushev that he considers him to be practically his only trusted ally and friend in the government,” the post claimed. “Additionally, the president promised that if his health takes a turn for the worse, actual control of the country will temporarily pass into Patrushev’s hands.”

In early April, the authors behind the Telegram channel claimed that Putin’s doctors had recommended surgery for later that month, but that did not happen.

An elderly man looks on as he sits in a bus after arriving from the frontline town of Orikhiv, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine — An elderly man looks out as he sits in a bus after arriving from the frontline town of Orikhiv, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, May 2, 2022.

“General SVR” has been reporting on Putin’s supposed oncology diagnosis since at least November 2020, claiming that the Russian dictator suffers from bowel cancer.

New questions were raised about Putin’s p h ysical state last month when he was seen tightly gripping a desk during his meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Kremlin has consistently denied that Putin suffers from any medical problems.