Putin Has Asperger's, Pentagon Report Says
Russian president Vladimir Putin has Asperger's syndrome, according to a Pentagon report obtained by US broadcaster CBS News.
The report, written in 2008, describes Asperger's as "an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions".
The research was conducted by the Office of Net Assessment and is based solely on videos of Mr Putin dating back to 2000.
According to the report, his "neurological development was significantly interrupted in infancy".
The study suggests Mr Putin's mother may have had a stroke while pregnant with him and that he suffered an "insult" to his brain.
The researchers believed this may have affected the way he thinks and moves the right side of his body.
"His primary form of compensation for his disorder is extreme control and this is reflected in his decision style and how he governs," the report says.
It quotes Dr Stephen Porges, now a University of North Carolina psychiatry professor, as concluding Mr Putin "carries a form of autism".
However, Dr Porges said on Wednesday he had never seen the finished report and "would back off saying he has Asperger's".
Dr Porges said his analysis was that US officials needed to find quieter settings in which to deal with Mr Putin, whose behaviour and facial expressions reveal someone who is defensive on a larger stage.
"If you need to do things with him, you don't want to be in a big state affair but more of one-on-one situation someplace somewhere quiet," he is quoted as saying by USA Today.
Mr Putin, a former KGB agent, remains popular in Russia but is viewed with suspicion in the West where his critics accuse him of behaving like a despot.
His actions have come under particular scrutiny since early 2014, when Russian annexed Crimea from neighbouring Ukraine.
Since then, Moscow has backed Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, although Mr Putin has denied supplying them with arms and ammunition.
He likes to portray himself as a strong, decisive leader with a fondness for extreme sports and physical activity.
In 2007 he was famously photographed swimming in a cold Siberian river and riding and fishing bare chested.
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¡¡¡...Ja, ja, ja, ja, ja....!!!
¡¡¡...Que divertido...!!!
¡¡¡...Genial...!!!
¡¡¡...Ja, ja, ja, ja, ja....!!!
