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Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said a coup is underway to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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The coup is “impossible to stop,” Major General Kyrylo Budanov told Sky News.
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The Russian leader is in “a very bad psychological and physical condition,” Budanov said.
A coup to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin is underway and cannot be stopped, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service said.
Speaking to Sky News, Major General Kyrylo Budanov said a Russian military defeat would lead to Putin’s removal and the country’s eventual collapse.
“It will eventually lead to the change of leadership of the Russian Federation,” Budanov said per Sky News. “This process has already started.”
Budanov said “yes” when Dominic Waghorn, Sky News’ international affairs editor, insisted on whether this means a coup attempt is currently underway.
“They move like this and it’s impossible to stop it,” he added.
Insider previously reported that all the grievances traditionally motivating a coup in Russia are there, but Putin has spent decades making his regime “coup-proof”.
Poor military performance, shaky morale and a struggling economy make a coup against the Russian dictator more likely, Insider reported, but the existence of the FSB, the FSO and The Rosgvardia serves to protect him.
In the exclusive Sky News interview, Budanov claimed that Putin is “in a very bad psychological and physical condition and that he is very ill”.
It follows a report that an unnamed Russian oligarch closely associated with the Kremlin was captured and said Putin is “very ill with blood cancer”.
There has been a… much speculation whether the Russian leader is unwell. Video footage surfaced in late April of Putin shaking “uncontrollably”, suggesting he may have Parkinson’s disease.
Commentators have also pointed to his unusually swollen face as a sign of steroid use and possible illness, as well as using a blanket to keep warm during Russia’s Victory Day military parade last week.
Read the original article on Business Insider
