Monthly Archives: June 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday seemingly alluded to Ukraine multiple times while speaking in Moscow to a group of young entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy park complex, better known as VDNKh, about Russian achievements.

While discussing countries and sovereignty, Putin stated: "Yes, there were eras in the history of our country when we had to retreat, but only in order to mobilize and move forward, concentrate and move forward."

After numerous initial setbacks in the war he started in Ukraine in late February, Putin's forces have reportedly found more success in recent weeks with a strategy of focusing on smaller towns and villages in eastern Ukraine. However, there have also been multiple reports of the Russian military retreating out of some areas.

Putin said he had called for Thursday's meeting of young minds in advance of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum because he wanted to hear ideas on "where we are now, where we are going and what we need to do to ensure our absolute and unconditional progress" benefiting Russia. During the meeting, he spoke of Peter the Great, a tsar known for expanding Russian territory and whose 350th birthday was celebrated by Russians on Thursday.

Though he never mentioned Ukraine by name, Putin seemingly drew parallels between the conflict in the neighboring country and actions taken by Peter, especially when mentioning how Peter took back land he considered to be Russia's. One of the reasons Putin has given for the invasion in Ukraine is that Russia is trying to reclaim its rightful land.

"Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years. On the face of it, he was at war with Sweden taking something away from it," Putin said. "He was not taking away anything, he was returning. This is how it was."

Tadeusz Giczan, a Belarusian reporter, wrote that Putin included another line in his account of Peter the Great that was not included in the Kremlin's translation of his comments.

According to Giczan, after talking about Peter taking land back from Sweden, Putin added, "[I]t seems now it's our turn to get our lands back."

Elsewhere in his remarks about Peter, Putin said, "When he founded the new capital, none of the European countries recognized this territory as part of Russia; everyone recognized it as part of Sweden. However, from time immemorial, the Slavs lived there along with the Finno-Ugric peoples, and this territory was under Russia's control. The same is true of the western direction, Narva and his first campaigns. Why would he go there? He was returning and reinforcing, that is what he was doing."

Putin also made comments elsewhere about military-political sovereignty that one could interpret as pertaining to Ukraine. He remarked, "It is important to be able to make sovereign domestic and foreign policy decisions and to ensure security."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

See the rest here:

Putin Warns Against Taking Russia's Retreats as Defeat

VLADIMIR Putin appears "bloated" and "weakened" in recent public appearances, and his behaviour indicates he may be suffering from a severe physical illness, body language experts have claimed.

Video from 2014 during Russia's last invasion of Ukraine seems to show how the Russian president has become just a shell of his former self.

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While Putin's increasingly erratic actions in the war could also indicate a man on the verge of a physical or mental breakdown.

The 69-year-old has long prided himself on his "strong man" image, whether that beriding a horse topless, or going for a spin on a Harley-Davidson in full leather with a notorious biker gang.

Putin's rapidly-changing face in recent years has also given rise to speculation that he may have undergone Botox or could even be addicted to steroids.

However, as noted body language experts have claimed, Putin's face is not the only aspect of the Russian head of state to change in recent years.

In 2014, following Russia's last invasion of Ukraine, Putin was filmed addressing his Federal Council, asking it to ratify the annexation of the previously Ukrainian territory of Crimea and Sevastopol as Russian.

He appears more animated, his face is thinner, his voice is calmer, and his body language more relaxed.

But just eight years later, video of Putin's most recent public appearances seem to reveal a very different man.

As body language expert Erik Bucy from Texas Tech University explained: "The contrast with the Vladimir Putin of five or 10 years ago - when he was much more energetic and erect - is stark."

Joseph Tecce, an associate professor of psychology at Boston College, adds: "We will soon see Putin suffer a nervous or physical breakdown as his body takes a beating from the stress emanating from the discordance between his subjective reality and what will soon face him in the real world."

Here are nine signs which could point to Putin's increasing physical and mental fragility.

In the recent two appearances of Putin, Mr Bucy says: "He appears hunched over with a sagging posture. He appears uncomfortable, perhaps incapable of holding himself erect.

"He frequently looks down and to the side, addressing the table and the floor and only rarely looking up at his subordinate."

Bucy told The Sun Online: "This is an aged, bloated, physically weakened version who appears to have come out of a long bout of isolation and perhaps physical illness.

He also points to "visible signs of unease and discomfort" in his delivery.

Theabnormally large meeting table used by Putinin his recent public appearances has been widely mocked.

However, Bucy points out that the size of the 13-foot table, supposedly for social distancing during the pandemic, could signal "unease with close contact, another sign of physical illness or frailty".

He goes on: "The distance also suggests he does not want to enable direct social comparisons with his invited guests... who may be in better physical condition.

"His use of video conferencing to meet with advisors is another sign of isolation and fear of contamination."

Read our Russia - Ukraine live blog for the very latest updates

Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement, typically on one side of the body.

Symptoms are gradual and tend to start with a small tremor beginning in the hand or fingers.

Last month, a nurse shared a viral TikTok video online speculating on the Russian president's health.

"Nurses and medical professionals, I'm gonna show you a video and this is why we should be terrified," the user, who has the handle @musclesandnursing, said in the video.

He then cut to a clip of Putin appearing to struggle to walk, stumbling slightly on his right leg before approaching and shaking a man's hand.

"I'm a nurse so I cannot diagnose, but I do know Parkinson's and a stroke when I see it," he went on, in the video which quickly racked up more than 2 million views.

Others have suggested his curious walking stance, whereby his right arm stays fixed by his side while his left swings freely, is a throwback to his KGB training.

Russian spies were taught to adopt a "gunslinger" stance, keeping their trigger finger close to their firearm at all times.

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Putin today seems "laconic and low energy," Bucy adds.

He contrasts his recent speeches "with his earlier, pre-pandemic appearances when he was far more energetic".

"Putin's body language reveals an attempt to hold back negative feelings," Mr Tecce adds.

He also points to Putin's "inappropriate behaviour" in the face of the war with Ukraine by "waving and smiling" at his interviewer, rather than appreciating "the seriousness of the situation".

Tecce explained: "Putin's inappropriate behaviour of smiling at a serious time may indicate his lack of awareness between his feelings of antagonism toward Ukraine and the reality of behaviour that may have serious consequences for him.

"This type of dissociation has been characteristic of people on the edge of break-down who make impulsive decisions which are out of touch with reality and which later haunt them."

"Frequent lip licking also indicates dehydration or stress," Bucy says.

"It is a Putin who presents less confidence even as he displays more aggression towards adversaries and subordinates."

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Once known for his icy-cool demeanour, in recent weeks, Putin's behaviour has been defined by angry, bizarre outbursts, such as branding Ukrainian leaders as "Nazis" and "drug-takers", or denouncing his own people as "traitors".

Writing for Politico, Paul Taylor said Putin had destroyed his image as a "cold-blooded statesman" with his "unhinged televised ramblings".

According to the US organisation parkinson.org, psychosis and behaviour changes can be a common symptom of Parkinson's.

Between 20 to 40% of people with Parkinson's report experiencing hallucinations or delusions.

President Putin appears to give away his stress levels in his excessive blinking rate, Mr Tecce adds.

He points to a "heightened blink rate of 56" times per minute in a recent clip, compared to the normal rate of 30 to 50 times a minute.

In the video, Putin also averts his interviewer's gaze and looks down.

It comes as...

It comes as Putin sent a chilling warning to the West and oligarchs, telling "scum" traitors that Russians will "spit them out like a midge that flew into their mouths".

In a televised address, the Russian leader warned the West would use "those who earn their money here but live over there" as a "fifth column" to "divide our society".

Putin also claimed his "military operation" in Ukraine is going to plan despite his troops' advance remaining largely stalled on the outskirts of Kyiv.

The contrast with the Vladimir Putin of five or 10 years ago... is stark

In the latest possible sign of Putin's erratic decision making, it is feared dozens of children are dead after Russian forces shelled a theatre being used as a bomb shelter by up to 1,200 people in Mariupol on Wednesday.

Russian forces dropped a bomb on a theatrewhere civilians were sheltering in thebesieged city of Mariupol, local officials say.

Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlovtold the BBCbetween 1,000 and 1,200 people had sought refuge in the building.

The word "children" had also been written on the pavement in large letters outside the building, in a plea forRussianjets not to bomb it.

This morning a report on BBC Radio 4's Today programme revealed the shelter had appeared on aUkrainianTV news report just 20 minutes before the strike, suggesting the attack on sheltering kids was targeted.

The number of people killed in the attack is still currently unknown.

Mariupol's deputy mayor Sergei Orlov told Forbes Ukraine that 80 to 90% of the city's buildings had been bombed.

Home to 400,000 people before the war, the city is of huge strategic importance to Putin's forces.

The port lies between the annexed territory of Crimea in the south and the breakaway pro-Russian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east.

Its capture could help Russia establish a much-needed land corridor across Ukraine.

A number of parents were tragically forced to leave their tiny premature babies behind at a hospital in Mariupol yesterday.

Amid frantic scenes as families try to escape, a devastating picture from the city's hospital number three shows three premature babies in a bed - left behind by their desperate parents.

It comes after apregnant woman and her unborn baby diedafter a Russian air strike destroyed a maternity hospital in Mariupol.

A harrowing picture showed the mother beingstretchered from the hospitaland she later screamed "kill me, kill me" when she found her baby was lost - before dying herself.

It's reported 103 children have been killed by merciless Russian troops.

Help those fleeing conflict with The Suns Ukraine Fund

PICTURES of women and children fleeing the horror of Ukraines devastated towns and cities have moved Sun readers to tears.

Many of you want to help the five million caught in the chaos and now you can, by donating to The Sun's Ukraine Fund.

Give as little as 3 or as much as you can afford and every penny will be donated to the Red Cross on the ground helping women, children, the old, the infirm and the wounded.

Donate here to help The Sun's fund

Or text to 70141 from UK mobiles

3 text SUN35 text SUN510 text SUN10

Texts cost your chosen donation amount (e.g. 5) +1 standard message (we receive 100%). For full T&Cs visitredcross.org.uk/mobile

The Ukraine Crisis Appeal will support people in areas currently affected and those potentially affected in the future by the crisis.

In the unlikely event that the British Red Cross raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help them prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters anywhere in the world.

For more information visithttps://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund

Excerpt from:

Nine chilling signs Putin is suffering serious disease & on verge of ...

June 10 (Reuters) - Estonia on Friday summoned the Russian ambassador to condemn President Vladimir Putin's "completely unacceptable" praise for an 18th century Russian ruler who captured a city that is now Estonian.

Putin paid tribute on Thursday to Tsar Peter the Great, who he said had taken back territory that was Russia's during a long war with Sweden from 1700 to 1721. Putin specifically mentioned Narva, which belongs to Estonia, one of the three Baltic States and a NATO member. read more

Estonia's foreign minister said Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev had been summoned "to condemn recent statements by President Putin ... including his comments on the Estonian city of Narva," it said in a statement.

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"At a time when Russia is ... trying to destroy the statehood and people of Ukraine, it is also completely unacceptable," it added.

Putin compared Peter's campaign with the task facing Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February.

Estonia was part of the Russian empire for more than two centuries before gaining its independence in 1918. In 1940 the Soviet Union annexed the country, which did not regain its independence until 1991.

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Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Estonia summons Russian envoy to protest Putin remarks - Reuters

Russian central bank chair says effect of sanctions is unclear

The head of Russia's central bank says it's impossible to draw conclusions on the impact of Western sanctions at this stage.

"So far, the effects of the sanctions are less acute than we feared. This also shows the ability of companies to adapt. But it is premature to say that the full effect of the sanctions has manifested itself," Elvira Nabiullina, chair of the Central Bank of Russia, said at a briefing, at which she also announced the lowering of interest rates to their prewar levels.

"The situation is uncertain, the situation is developing and the situation of the structural restructuring of our economy, of its capacity to rebuild, is also a process, so it's premature to draw any conclusions here," Nabiullina said.

She also said Moscow was preparing a possible legal challenge against E.U. sanctions against Russia's central securities depository and measures freezing the settlement of ruble transactions by its E.U.-based counterparts. She did not provide details, but admitted such a challenge "would not be easy."

Associated Press

Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit in the Skuespilhuset in Copenhagen, Denmark June 10, 2022.

Philip Davali | Ritzau Scanpix | via Reuters

Former U.S. President Barack Obama urged global leaders to sustain support for Ukraine.

"Our support for Ukraine must remain strong, steadfast and sustained until this conflict reaches a resolution," Obama said during an address at the annual Copenhagen Democracy Summit, applauding the Ukrainian people's "historic resistance to Russian aggression."

"They've united to defend not just their sovereignty, but their democratic identity, and their actions have rallied much of the world behind the values of self-determination and human dignity," Obama said.

"Because of the courage and because of this solidarity on display, Vladimir Putin is failing to achieve his aims inside of Ukraine and beyond ... Meanwhile, Russia is cut off from resources and revenue, and many of its best and brightest have left, a blow to its present, but also to its future," he added.

Amanda Macias

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shake hands after a meeting, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2022.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a previously unannounced visit to Kyiv.

The U.K. defense ministry says Wallace also held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, during the two-day visit this week.

It said Wallace told Zelenskyy that "U.K. support will continue to meet Ukraine's needs as the conflict enters a different phase."

Britain has been one of the biggest donors of military equipment to Ukraine and recently agreed to send rocket launch systems that can target Russian artillery positions in eastern Ukraine.

Western officials say the conflict is becoming a grinding slow-motion war as Russian forces inch forward in their offensive to capture Ukaine's eastern industrial heartland.

Associated Press

People stand amid newly-made graves at a cemetery in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the settlement of Staryi Krym outside Mariupol, Ukraine May 22, 2022.

Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters

The United Nations has confirmed 4,339 civilian deaths and 5,246 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is likely higher, because the armed conflict can delay fatality reports.

The international organization said most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as missiles and airstrikes.

Amanda Macias

People queue for food donated by the World Central Kitchen charity on May 24, 2022 in Borodianka, Ukraine. As Russia concentrates its attack on the east and south of the country, residents of the Kyiv region are returning to assess the war's toll on their communities.

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

Spanish celebrity chef and restaurateur Jose Andres gave U.S. lawmakers an update on the worsening food crisis inside Ukraine.

Speaking via video conference before the House subcommittee on national security, the two-star Michelin chef said that Russian vessels blocking Ukraine's ports will soon trigger a global food shortage crisis.

"I've seen how Russia in a way, very directly is using this war to put extra pressure around the world by creating famines in places that we should not have," said Andres, who founded the World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization dedicated to feeding vulnerable communities.

Andres told lawmakers that so far, his organization has distributed more than 40 million meals to more than 475 cities near and around Ukraine.

"We are working with almost 500 restaurants, food trucks and catering companies in eight countries," he said, adding that his organization has set up 42 warehouses to run operations.

"More than 30,000 bags a day are distributed on top of the hot meals," he said.

Amanda Macias

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 24, 2022.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe as Washington repeatedly warns Beijing, the world's second-largest economy, not to help Russia.

Austin told Wei that the U.S. "is watching the situation very carefully and strongly discouraged China from providing material support to Russia for its war in Ukraine," a senior U.S. Defense official told reporters in Singapore traveling with the Pentagon chief.

The two last spoke in April in what was their first known call since Austin ascended to the top office in the Pentagon.

Amanda Macias

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the two Britons and one Moroccan sentenced to death on Thursday had committed crimes in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.

The three men Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim fought alongside Ukrainian forces and surrendered to Russian forces weeks ago. They have a month to appeal the decision by the pro-Russia rebel court.

"The processes you mentioned are based on the legislation of the [self-proclaimed] Donetsk People's Republic, because the crimes we are talking about were committed on the territory of the DPR," Lavrov said of the case.

"Everything else is the subject of speculation. I would not want to be getting involved with the work of the judicial and law enforcement system of the Donetsk People's Republic," he added.

The DPR is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine and much of it remains under Ukrainian control.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has called the sentencing a "sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy."

Sam Meredith

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives an interview to Rossiya-1 TV channel in Sochi, Russia June 3, 2022.

Mikhail Klimentyev | Sputnik | Reuters

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak has responded to Putin's remarks in which Russia's leader appeared to hint at further invasions and likened himself to 18th-century czar Peter the Great.

Podolyak said via Twitter that Putin's comments show why it is ineffective to discuss how Russia is "saving face" over its invasion of Ukraine, and instead should prompt a discussion over Russia's "immediate de-imperialization."

Sam Meredith

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said: "When we impose sanctions, then we have to make sure that those sanctions are hurting more those against whom we impose the sanctions than ourselves."

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says it is not possible for the European Union to impose a Russian gas embargo in its next package of sanctions.

Speaking to CNBC's Charlotte Reed on the sidelines of the OECD's Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris, Szijjarto said: "When we impose sanctions, then we have to make sure that those sanctions are hurting more those against whom we impose the sanctions than ourselves."

"We have to have a very clear position on the war, which we do have, we condemn Russia for this military aggression. We stand with Ukraine. But we have to take into consideration reality as well," he added.

Szijjarto said Russia currently supplies 65% of Hungary's oil demand and 85% of its gas supplies, adding that a lack of available infrastructure means it's not possible for the landlocked European country to swiftly reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.

The EU agreed late last month to impose a partial embargo on Russian crude in a bid to cripple President Vladimir Putin's war machine. The watered-down deal covers Russian oil brought into the bloc by sea, with an exemption carved out for imports delivered by pipeline.

Szijjarto spoke of his frustration that Hungary had been portrayed as a country reluctant to punish Russia's war in Ukraine after the country opposed a total ban on Russian oil.

When asked about the prospect of the EU targeting Russian gas exports in its next round of sanctions, Szijjarto said: "No, it's impossible."

"If you're not able to import gas from Russia, then the country stops, economy stops, we cannot heat the houses, we cannot run the economy. Our question is who can offer a solution?" he added.

Sam Meredith

A Ukrainian soldier on a destroyed Russian tank on the frontline in Luhansk oblast, Ukraine, on June 09, 2022.

Diego Herrera Carcedo | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk province, has said fierce street fighting continues in Severodonetsk as Russian forces battle for control of the city.

"The whole free Luhansk region came under heavy shelling," Haidai said via Telegram, according to a translation.

"Fierce street fights continue in Severodonetsk. We are exhausting the enemy," he added.

Sam Meredith

A woman cooks in the yard of a house in the city of Mariupol on June 4, 2022, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.

Stringer | AFP | Getty Images

Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories, with the ruined seaside city of Mariupol at risk of a major cholera outbreak, according to the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense.

"Access to safe drinking water has been inconsistent, while major disruption to telephone and internet services continues. There is likely a critical shortage of medicines in Kherson, while Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak," the ministry said via Twitter.

"Isolated cases of cholera have been reported since May. Ukraine suffered a major cholera epidemic in 1995, and has experienced minor outbreaks since, especially around the Azov Sea coast which includes Mariupol," it added. "Medical services in Mariupol are likely already near collapse: a major cholera outbreak in Mariupol will exacerbate this further."

Sam Meredith

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the positions of Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut city and Lysychansk district, Ukraine, on June 5, 2022.

Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the country's forces are holding on to cities in the Donbas region despite sustained pressure from Russian troops.

The Donbas region refers to the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the easternmost part of Ukraine. It is a major strategic, political and economic target for the Kremlin.

"Frontlines situation for the day has not seen any significant changes. Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on," Zelenskyy said in an evening address to the nation, according to a translation.

"We have a certain positive [development] in the Zaporizhia region, where it is possible to thwart the plans of the occupiers. We are gradually moving forward in the Kharkiv region, liberating our land. We keep defense in the Mykolaiv direction."

Sam Meredith

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets young entrepreneurs in Moscow on June 9, 2022.

Mikhail Metzel | Afp | Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appeared to hint at further territorial expansion, in remarks likely to set off alarm bells.

"It's impossible do you understand? impossible to build a fence around a country like Russia. And we do not intend to build that fence," Putin said at a meeting with young entrepreneurs in Moscow, according to Sky News.

It came as the Russia leader compared himself to Peter the Great on the 350th anniversary of the czar's birth. Putin sought to draw a parallel between the Kremlin's raging onslaught in Ukraine and the former Russian monarch's conquest of the Baltic coast during a war against Sweden in the 18th century.

"When he [Peter the Great] founded the new capital, none of the European countries recognized the territory as Russian. They all recognized it as Swedish territory. The Slavs together with the Finno-Ugric peoples had always lived there, moreover, this territory had been under the control of the Russian state. Same going towards the west Narva and his first expeditions," Putin said, according to a translation.

"Why did he go there? He went there to take it back and strengthen it, that's what he was doing. Well, it seems it has also fallen to us to take back and strengthen [territories], and if we take these basic values as fundamental to our existence, we will prevail in solving the issues we are facing," he added.

Sam Meredith

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses South Korean parliament via video link, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 11, 2022.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, and they discussed Kyiv's entry into the European Union amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

In April, Zelenskyy completed the first step in obtaining European Union membership for Ukraine by submitting a lengthy questionnaire.

The two leaders also discussed the latest developments on the ground and additional French security assistance for Ukraine, according to an Elysee Palace readout of the call.

Amanda Macias

Thu, Jun 9 20224:10 PM EDT

A Mirage 2000-5F jet fighter takes off from Luxeuil-Saint Sauveur air-base 116, in Saint-Sauveur, eastern France, on March 13, 2022.

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Putin appears to hint at further invasions; Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces holding on in the Donbas - CNBC

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on economic issues on Wednesday. (Getty)

Western intelligence officials believe Vladimir Putin could become medically incapacitated "within three-six months", a former spy has claimed.

Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele said the CIA and other agencies believe the Russian President could be ousted in the coming months following his disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

He claimed that while one of the factors would be his failing health, it would also depend on what happened in Ukraine and if Russia suffered more substantial casualties.

Steele told BBC Radio 4s The World at One: I dont see him (Putin) being in power for more than three-six months from now.

Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele. (Getty)

There are signs his health is failing for a start which will be a factor in this.

And if what were being told by the CIA and others and our own sources is true then it looks as though he could become incapacitated over that sort of period of time.

Steele added: This is a strongman regime where people have to have fear of the leader and if the leader is incapacitated medically then there will be a move against him, im sure.

Watch: Volodymyr Zelensky claims 31,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine

The former MI6 operative said his replacement was unlikely to be any more liberal than Putin, but would be someone who had a vested interest in getting out of the war.

He said: I dont think it would mean good relations with the West but at least we would be able to have a negotiation where they could claim they hadnt lost face because of the blame they would be putting on the previous leader.

In April, questions about Putin's health increased when a video from February showed him shaking uncontrollably during a meeting with Aleksandr Lukashenko, the president of Belarus.

That followed a report by a Russian investigative journalism group that Putin had been visited by a cancer surgeon dozens of times over a four-year period.

Last month a Ukrainian intelligence official claimed the Russian leader had cancer but won't "die tomorrow".

Story continues

Moscow has not formally responded to rumours about Putin's health. However, in November 2020, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected widely reported claims that the Russian president had Parkinson's disease and was poised to quit.

Its absolute nonsense, Peskov said. Everything is fine with the president.

It was reported last month that Putin was able to survive an assassination attempt two months ago, though Western officials are reportedly skeptical of the claim.

Read more: Russia draws closer to capture of Ukraine's Donbas region

Ukrainian soldiers walk as seeds burn in grain silos shelled repeatedly in the Donetsk region. (Reuters)

More than three months after launching a war against its heavily outnumbered and outgunned neighbour, Russia has withdrawn from much of northern Ukraine to refocus on the east.

Thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine and millions more displaced since the beginning of the war, which Moscow calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" its neighbour.

Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war to seize territory.

Steele was behind the so-called Steele dossier, published by BuzzFeed in January 2017, about alleged links between former US president Donald Trump and Russia in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election campaign.

Continued here:

Sick Putin could be incapacitated within months and then toppled as leader, Western spy claims - Yahoo News

Angela Merkel has said she feels no regrets for her handling of Vladimir Putin during her time in power, arguing that Russias president would have perceived a 2008 Nato membership plan for Ukraine that was blocked by her government as a declaration of war.

The former German chancellor also claimed that an oligarch-run and democratically immature Ukraine would have been less prepared for an invasion then than it is now.

I would feel very bad if I had said: Theres no point talking to that man [Putin], Merkel said in an onstage interview at the Berliner Ensemble theatre on Tuesday night her first public appearance since leaving office half a year ago.

It is a great tragedy that it didnt work, but I dont blame myself for trying, she added in an unusually frank answer from a politician who rarely spoke freely while in office.

Asked about whether she regretted opposing the US-led membership action plan for Ukraine and Georgia in 2008, Merkel said: Ukraine was not the country that we know now. It was a Ukraine that was very split even the reformist forces [Yulia] Tymoshenko and [Viktor] Yushchenko were very at odds. That means it was not a country whose democracy was inwardly strengthened. She said Ukraine at the time was ruled by oligarchs.

From the Russian presidents perspective, it was a declaration of war. While she didnt share Putins perspective, Merkel said she knew how he thought and didnt want to provoke it further.

She claimed to have blocked Ukraines route to membership of the military alliance with the countrys best interests at heart. You cannot become a member of Nato from one day to the next, Merkel said. Its a process, and during this process I knew Putin would have done something to Ukraine that would not have been good for it.

The Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 were signed by then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko to reach a political settlement in east Ukraine, but have since been criticised for forcing concessions while the country was militarily on the back foot.

Merkel defended the accords, saying they bought Ukraine time. It calmed down the matter and bought Ukraine time to develop into the country that it has become now.

She praised president Volodymyr Zelenskiy for his wartime leadership, saying he represented a new Ukraine.

The interview with Der Spiegel journalist Alexander Osang began with Merkel talking about how she had spent her first weeks out of office going for solitary walks by the Baltic Sea, wearing a hoodie so as not to be recognised by passersby, and listening to an audiobook of William Shakespeares Macbeth.

But the conversation inevitably turned to the war in Ukraine, and whether Germanys alleged leniency towards the Kremlin had emboldened Putin. Merkel said she felt the geopolitical problems created by the collapse of the Soviet Union had been present throughout her 16 years in power. It wasnt possible to properly end the cold war the Russia question always remained.

Merkel said she had started to take seriously the possibility of a looming invasion in her last few weeks in office, when she attended the G20 summit in Rome while Olaf Scholzs successor government was still in the process of being formed.

There were hints and we talked about it a lot, the 67-year-old said. I realised that Putin had finished with the Minsk process.

While Merkel condemned Russias war of aggression in clear terms, she also seemed to suggest some blame needed to be apportioned to the west.

What happened is a great mistake on Russias behalf an objective break with all rules of international law that allow us to coexist in Europe in peace. If we started to go through one century after another arguing which territory belongs to whom, then we would be at war non-stop.

I dont share the opinion of Mr Putin, to make that very clear. But we didnt manage to create a security architecture that could have prevented this [war in Ukraine]. And we should think about that too.

She rejected the criticism that Germany under her leadership had fallen for an illusion that a militarily aggressive Russia could be democratised by expanding trade links with the west.

I didnt believe that Putin could be changed through trade, Merkel said. But she said her belief was that if political cooperation was impossible, it was sensible to at least have some economic connections with Moscow.

Merkels defence of expanding economic ties with Russia seemed at odds with her claiming to have warned other politicians that Putin felt animosity towards the entire western model of democracy, and that he wanted to destroy Europe.

The former leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) conceded that European countries had failed to spend sufficiently on their militaries, even though she rejected criticism that the German army had fallen into disarray under her watch.

What should we have enforced more strongly? she asked rhetorically when reviewing the decisions of her last two terms in office. It [the military] is the only language that Putin understands. He saw that we, and not just Germany but others too, no longer had the strike power of the cold war.

The rest is here:

No regrets over handling of Vladimir Putin, says Angela Merkel - The Guardian