Three U.S. intelligence officials say that Russian President Vladimir Putin underwent cancer treatments in April according to an intelligence assessment, Newsweek reports.

Additionally, the classified intelligence report said that Putin survived an attempted assassination in March, according to the intelligence officials.

The officials, who are from three separate U.S. intelligence agencies, told Newsweek that Putin is becoming increasingly paranoid about his slipping hold on power, which could make the prospect of peace in Ukraine less likely, but makes the prospect of nuclear war unlikely, as well.

“Putin’s grip is strong but no longer absolute,” one of the intelligence officers with direct access to the reports said. “The jockeying inside the Kremlin has never been more intense during his rule, everyone sensing that the end is near.”

However, the officials also cautioned that Putin’s isolation has made it more difficult to gain credible intelligence on him.

“What we know is that there is an iceberg out there, albeit one covered in fog,” an official from the Defense Intelligence Agency said. “One source of our best intelligence, which is contact with outsiders, largely dried up as a result of the Ukraine war. Putin has had few meetings with foreign leaders. Putin’s isolation has thus increased levels of speculation.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)