
Trump says he'll meet Putin ‘as soon as we can' as Ukraine-Russia talks FINALLY begin…with little chance of progress
Putin is 'scared of being assassinated' over his failing war
Vladimir Putin could be a "dead man walking" as he faces assassination because of his disastrous war on Ukraine, experts claim.
The ageing and paranoid despot has reportedly bolstered up his security teams and is often afraid to leave his Kremlin palace due to potential killers looking for him.
Former commander of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, Col Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told the Mirror: 'There are analysts, people who know better than I, who believe Putin is now a dead man walking, a spent force whose war in Ukraine will cause his end.
'He is incredibly paranoid, as we see with his increased security and I am very reliably informed by people who would know that he has at least two dopplegangers or lookalikes.
"He has been acting like a worried Czar and the Bolsheviks are gathering at the gates because internally things are looking really terrible. Russians cannot even buy a loaf of bread.'
As Bruce Jones, one of the UK's leading analysts in Russian intelligence and the military added: 'Things never end democratically in Russia and the situation is bad for Putin.
"He has had people killed for years and some in his military have already been dealt with in such a way - he knows the way this goes for a leader in Moscow who is not making good decisions.
"So he is probably right to be paranoid.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
'British mothers have to accept that their sons will have to die for Nato'
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Mothers in Britain will soon have to make an inconceivable choice – send their sons to fight against Russian soldiers in Europe, or suffer the end of Nato, Ukraine's former foreign minister has said. Dmytro Kuleba issued the warning only a few hours after Kyiv faced what he described as 'the worst drone assault' since the start of the invasion. He spoke to Metro exclusively about Vladimir Putin's goal to 'expose' the 'falsehood' of the collective security commitment that binds members of the military alliance, and Europe's 'weaknesses'. The politician said: 'Putin may invade Nato territory soon – so now what? Is Nato going to send a division to fight back? 'The first day that Nato will spend on deliberating whether to trigger Article 5 or not, and how to respond, will be the end of the alliance. 'The first day the EU – which is no big bother to England – is going to spend discussing its response to Russia, is going to be the end of it too. 'This is what Putin is pursuing, because he hates Ukraine – but he deeply despises Europe too. It is a very deep conviction.' Kuleba is not the only one to sound an alarm over the future of Europe and Nato. Just last week, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said Russia may be ready to attack the alliance within five years, calling for a 'quantum leap' in defence spending and industrial mobilisation to avert the conflict. Putin's war machine has been speeding up. On April 1, Russia launched its largest conscription drive with the goal of enlisting 160,000 men. Drone production has also been taking centre-stage. Away from a military spend increase, Kuleba stressed that the 'real focus' should be on developing 'the will to defend yourself' in Europeans. He said: 'Many people believe that the real test for Nato is whether the US is going to fight for Europe. 'The real test will be whether British mothers will actually accept that their sons have to die for Finland or Estonia or Poland. If they don't, there is no Nato. 'This is is how World War II started. 'Why fight for Danzig [now the city of Gdańsk]? Let's give it to Hitler, it is just a city in Poland. Why should we die for it?' That was the question asked by western European nations [at the time]. 'And this is exactly the question that Putin is going to pose to Nato. Europe is already spending money on weapons, but it has to do so much faster. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'But the real question is, who is going to tell the voters that the threat of the war is real?' Kuleba's warnings come from a wealth of experience. Before the beginning of the war, no one in Ukraine – and the rest of Europe – did actually believe that Russia would invade and proceed to massacre tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers. He also made the mistake of thinking that after a certain number of Russian losses in Ukraine – 'like 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers' – Putin would eventually withdraw. It is estimated that there have been one million Russian soldiers killed and wounded since the conflict began in Feburary 2022. It is this 'same pattern of behaviour' – blindly trusting that Putin 'would not dare' to attack – that Kuleba sees across Europe. He said: 'Telling the truth to people about the prospect of war in Europe is what requires more attention than anything else… 'People in Britain or any other country can listen to what I'm saying or they can decide that I am a warmongering Ukrainian who is trying to pull them into my war. More Trending 'I am perfectly fine with any choice they make. What I can say, what I can urge them, is not to repeat our mistakes. 'The biggest mistake Ukraine made was that we did not believe that this can happen to us on this scale. We, in Ukraine, also believed that it is not going to happen to us because Putin would never dare to do it. 'So this is the mistake that people are making. I look around in Europe and I just see the same pattern happening. The same pattern of behaviour. 'Do you think that if Ukraine was able to attack airfields in Russia, 1,000 miles away from Ukraine, Russia is not able to attack any piece of infrastructure in any European country? That would be a very, very big mistake to think so.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Major European holiday destination opens e-gates to British travellers just in time for summer MORE: Zelensky refutes Trump's take on war and calls Putin 'murderer who came to kill the kids' MORE: Russia blames Britain for Ukraine's attack on airfields destroying 40 war planes


The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Deaths in Kharkiv as Russia continues strikes on civilian targets
At least two people were killed and 28 injured in an overnight Russian drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday morning. 'Seventeen strikes by enemy UAVs were carried out in two districts of the city this night,' said the Kharkiv mayor, Igor Terekhov. More than 15 apartments were on fire in a five-storey building and several houses were hit. Terekhov added 'there may be people trapped under the rubble'. Separately the death toll rose to at least three with 13 wounded after Russia attacked Kyiv and Odesa with waves of drones and missiles early on Tuesday. The civilian targets hit included a maternity ward and a cathedral. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, voiced his frustration with Donald Trump by calling for 'concrete actions' rather than 'silence' after seven of the Ukrainian capital's 10 districts were hit, writes Daniel Boffey from Kyiv. Another exchange of prisoners of war took place on Tuesday, after a swap on Monday, pursuant to the only tangible deal struck at the most recent Ukraine-Russia talks in Turkey. Among them were soldiers captured in the battle for Mariupol over three years ago, said Ukrainian authorities. All of those freed had severe injuries and illnesses, including amputated limbs and vision problems. Russia's defence ministry said it also received a group of soldiers. Amina Ivanchenko was reunited on Monday with her husband, a PoW for 18 months, in the initial release. She said was grateful to Ukrainian officials for supporting her. 'My struggle was much easier thanks to them. Our country will definitely return everyone. Glory to Ukraine! Thank you!' The European Commission proposed on Tuesday an 18th package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, aimed at Moscow's energy revenues, its banks and its military industry. Among the measures, Jennifer Rankin writes from Brussels, the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has proposed that western countries reduce the price at which Russian oil can be sold to $45 (£30) a barrel, down from $60. Oil exports, she added, represented one-third of Russian government revenues. 'We need to cut this source of revenues.' The EU executive also wants to impose restrictions on doing business with the companies involved in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, to prevent them being revived; impose restrictions on doing business with 22 banks, cutting them off from the Swift financial messaging system; and add more ships to the banned 'shadow fleet' list as well as sanctioning oil trading companies. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said shadow fleet sanctions were having a marked impact. 'When sanctioned, Russia's shadow fleet tankers cannot dock in ports and Russia has to find new vessels. This costs some more and runs down their profits.'


Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
One killed, 23 injured in Russia's drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv, mayor says
June 11 (Reuters) - Russia's overnight drone attack on Kharkiv killed at least one person and injured another 23, the mayor of the northeastern Ukrainian city said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.