A newly released Pentagon report from 2008 claims that the current Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has Asperger’s syndrome and that it “affects all of his decisions,” according to USA Today.
The report, which was obtained by USA Today, was created by a Pentagon think tank, the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), and theorizes that Putin’s “neurological development was significantly interrupted in infancy.”
According to USA Today, the report was written by Brenda Connors, an expert in movement pattern analysis at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
Connors reportedly wrote that studies of Putin’s movements show he “carries a neurological abnormality.” Asperger’s syndrome is a form of autism marked by difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication.
However, the report acknowledges the suspected diagnosis cannot be confirmed because researchers were not able to perform a brain scan on Putin.