Russia in turmoil as Putin turns 70

RUSSIA is being “readied for succession” as Vladimir Putin struggles to maintain control over the invasion of Ukraine, experts warned yesterday.

- Michael Knowles

The premier’s decision to send a “generation to die” in Ukraine after “abandoning” his people during Covid has prompted protests and turmoil in Russia, researcher Stepan Stepanenko said.

As Putin turns 70 today, his troops are currently suffering heavy losses and trying to evacuate their wounded amid a ferocious advance by Ukraine’s military.

The partial mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of Russians to fight in Ukraine – after the Kremlin’s military top brass lost hundreds of towns, cities and villages – has led to much domestic unrest.

And critics are growing more emboldened, openly criticising the Russian government on state TV.

Mr Stepanenko, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, said: “What remains of the world’s largest country after the demise of its inglorious leader will also be the workings of a man who desperately sought acceptance and fame but achieved notoriety and solitude. The destruction of national identity and genocidal tendencies of the Chechen war still linger in the region.