The military-political expert believes that Putin is already aware of the impending defeat in the war against Ukraine, but still hopes for a miracle.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to stay in power at any cost, but if he loses the war, only a miracle can help him in this.
This opinion was expressed by military-political expert Yuri Fedorov on the air of Apostrophe TV.
“By all means, Putin is going to stay in power as long as he is able to move around, even if he rides in a wheelchair, he will still remain in power – at least that's how he decided. How people from his environment decide – the question is different, here you can evaluate it differently, argue and express different points of view. But it is precisely this, of course, that bets on staying in the Kremlin until the last day of his life, “Fyodorov believes.
According to the expert, now Putin is already beginning to realize that the situation at the front is similar to the fact that Russia will lose this war.
“It is clear that losing the war or withdrawing from the war on the terms that indicate that Russia has not achieved its goals is like a sharp knife in the heart for Putin, because the question of responsibility for the lost war will immediately arise, or at least , for the war that was not won, which cost the country very dearly. Then the question will be: who is to blame? Well, of course, who is the one who unleashed it. And then another Russian question will arise: what to do with this person? The answer is also obvious – perhaps he will not be allowed to remain in power, and his fate will be sad,” Fedorov is convinced.
According to him, Putin understands this, and therefore stakes on a long war. He relies on Ukraine's Western allies to stop supporting Ukraine. He still hopes that the West will return to the position that it was before a full-scale war.
“But, I think, rather, Putin is hoping for a miracle, like many dictators who find themselves in the most difficult situation, and he has no choice but to hope for a miracle. Adolf Hitler in 1945 also hoped for a miracle, but his end is known. I I think Putin is in a similar state,” the expert believes.
If Putin loses the presidency, Fedorov suggests that the junta will seize power in Russia. Fedorov noted that the highest stratum of Russian “elites” is a set of warring and competing groups of influence. We are talking about various forms, “sometimes quite stable, sometimes situational, opportunistic, which are now fighting with each other for influence on Putin,” who, in turn, successfully manipulates these groups, setting them against each other.
“Therefore, if Putin leaves, the heads of law enforcement agencies, plus leading people from those departments that manage the economy, will enter this junta, as I understand it. Because the security forces, with all their influence, cannot manage the economy. They also fulfill their direct duties hard, as we saw after this so-called “Bryansk campaign,” Fedorov is convinced.
Probably, for a certain time, all of them will exercise collective leadership, and the “main”, most likely, will choose the weakest one, who does not pose a threat to others.
