PUTIN: KREMLIN COUP TO AXE HIM
‘Mad Vlad has to go’
A COUP aimed at toppling Vladimir Putin is under way in Russia, say spy chiefs.
It means the ailing tyrant could be put on trial for war crimes and genocide within months.
Ukraine’s intelligence boss Major General Kyrylo Budanov said powerful figures inside the Kremlin had decided “Mad Vlad” has to go.
He added: “They are moving in this way and it is impossible to stop it.”
It comes as the number of Russian casualties following the disastrous invasion hit 100,000 killed or wounded.
General Budanov said Ukrainian forces were now doing so well that the war will be over by the end of the year.
He predicted Russia’s defeat will lead to the removal of Putin, and the country’s disintegration.
He said: “The breaking point will be in the second part of August. Most of the active combat actions will have finished by the end of this year.
“As a result, we will renew Ukrainian power in all our territories that we have lost, including Donbas and the Crimea.
“It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation. This process has already been launched.”
He also claimed Putin was in a “very bad psychological and physical condition and he is very sick”.
It follows claims earlier this week by a Russian oligarch with close Kremlin ties that Putin is “very ill with blood cancer”. Yesterday, the president of Finland called the Russian leader to tell him it would apply for Nato membership in the next few days. Sauli Niinistö said he told Putin how recent actions by Russia, along with the invasion of Ukraine, “have altered the security environment of Finland”. He said Putin replied that Finland abandoning its long-standing neutral status would be “a mistake”.