Demise of Putin just wishful thinking, says UK army chief

BRITAIN’S armed forces chief has dismissed speculation that Russian president Vladimir Putin is “not well” or could be assassinated as “wishful thinking”.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the UK Chief of Defence Staff, was asked if president Putin could be “toppled” or face “regime change”.

But he told Sophie Raworth on BBC One’s Sunday Morning : “I think some of the comments that he’s not well or that surely somebody’s going to assassinate him – I think they’re wishful thinking.

“As military professionals, we see a relatively stable regime in Russia. President Putin has been able to quash any opposition. We see a hierarchy that is invested in President Putin and so nobody at the top has got the motivation to challenge him and that is bleak.”

He said the “challenge of Russia will endure” potentially for “decades in terms of Russia as a threat”, and the next prime minister should know that Russia is “the biggest threat” to the UK.

“Its land forces are probably less of a threat in the short term because of that degradation; that depletion we’re seeing with their struggle in Ukraine,” he said. “But Russia continues to be a nuclear power. It’s got cyber capabilities, space capabilities and programmes underwater so can threaten underwater cables that allow the world’s information to transit around the globe.”

Reflecting on a recent visit to Kyiv, he said Ukraine’s army “absolutely” believed it will win the war.

On how he will brief the next prime minister, he said: “We have to remind the prime minister of the extraordinary responsibility they have with the UK as a nuclear power.”