A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is at risk of getting murdered or deposed by a member of his inner circle amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
The officer also added that Putin could face severe internal threats.
In a statement released by former CIA officer, Daniel Hoffman, he claimed that Putin might face threats from top aides who are frustrated with his actions in Ukraine following his decision to invade the country.
The former CIA officer also highlighted the names of the people close to the Russian president that could possibly harm him including Kremlin security council chief Nikolai Patrushev, Federal Security Service head Alexander Bortnikov, and Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister.
“Nobody’s gonna ask, ‘Hey Vladimir, would you like to leave?’ No. It’s a fucking hammer to the head and he’s dead. Or it’s time to go to the sanatorium. They schwack him for it. That’s what they’ll do.” Hoffman stated in an interview with The Daily Beast.
However, another former CIA officer and currently a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, Ronald Marks made it clear that Putin will likely be safe as long as the agents protecting him will remain loyal.
“And he’s done a nice job of getting rid of those who aren’t on his side,” Marks said and added that comparing Putin to other “ousted Russian leaders, Marks said such figures either drop dead in office or get removed from power.”
Moreover, former British intelligence chief Sir Richard Dearlove also speculated that Russian President Putin might end up in a sanatorium and be ousted from power by 2023.
“I’m really going to stick my neck out. I think he’ll be gone by 2023. But probably into the sanatorium, from which he will not emerge as the leader of Russia,” Dearlove said in a statement in May.
During the same month, a Ukrainian intelligence official also claimed that the Russian President was the target of an assassination attempt.
“There was an attempt to assassinate Putin. … He was even attacked, it is said, by representatives of the Caucasus, not so long ago. This is non-public information. [It was an] Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really happened. It was about 2 months ago.” Ukraine’s top military intelligence official said.
However, the Western officials denounced the claim, arguing that the “controlled environment” around Putin would make an assassination attempt “hugely complex.”
