Putin faces ‘elimination’ if he loses Ukraine war, key opponent says

Russia: Vladimir Putin addresses rally in Moscow

An impending Russian defeat in Ukraine will lead to the “crash” and total “elimination” of Putin and his regime, a leading Kremlin opponent says. Alexander Osovtsov is a veteran of Russian politics and was at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement that toppled the Communists in the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. He went on to be elected as an MP for the Democratic Choice party, that was founded by Yegor Gaidar – a former Russian Prime Minister under President Boris Yeltsin, who was responsible for introducing the market reforms that transformed the command economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now he has told Express.co.uk that Putin has everything to lose in Ukraine.e

The 65-year-old is currently a member of the Executive Council of the Congress of People’s Deputies (CPD).

The CPD is a political forum of anti-Putin politicians determined to overthrow the present dictatorial regime and build a democratic Russia.

In February it held its second conference in Warsaw, where participants further discussed their plans for regime change in Russia.

Mr Osovtsov told Express.co.uk during the conference that the key to the defeat of Putin’s army in Ukraine and the destruction of his regime would be the capture of Crimea, given its hugely symbolic significance for the Kremlin and Russians in general.

The Kremlin boss was able to boost his popularity and enhance the legitimacy of his rule when he annexed the peninsula back in 2014, creating a patriotic “Crimean majority” among the general populace.

“First of all the sign of the end (for Putin) is Crimea,” Mr Osovtsov explained.

“For Putin and this Crimean majority, this peninsula is the symbol of the national restoration.

“When and if this symbol will be destroyed, I am totally sure that this majority and the whole construction of the mentality of current Russia will also be destroyed.”

He added: “In the situation of this crash, of course it will be totally possible to eliminate all of them (Putin and his acolytes).”

The importance of Crimea to Putin and to the longevity of his dictatorship was highlighted in remarks made last week by his close ally Dmitry Medvedev.

The deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council warned of nuclear retaliation if Ukraine attempts to seize the peninsula.

He said: “As far as some serious offensives involving an attempt to retake Crimea are concerned, it is absolutely clear that this will serve as a basis for the use of all means of protection, including those provided for by the basic doctrine of nuclear deterrence, when the use of any types of weapons against Russia poses a threat to the existence of the state as such.”

Mr Osovtsov pointed out that regimes like Putin’s are normally destroyed after a military defeat and claimed that the Russian army’s continuing struggles in eastern Ukraine suggested that moment could be close at hand.

“What’s going on?,” he said. “The Russian army which they presented as a strong force is fighting for Vuhledar, Bakhmut and is spending month by month in attempts to occupy such towns and even villages.

“And of course it (their struggles) means they are not far from losing this war at all.”

Putin’s army has been engaged in a month’s long bloody battle to seize the Donbas town of Bakhmut, in its ongoing effort to secure control of Ukraine’s eastern provinces.

The Russians have seen thousands of their soldiers killed and wounded in the fighting, which has yielded incremental gains.

Don’t miss…
Ukraine hunts for Putin’s ‘Butchers of Bucha’ [LATEST]
Viktor Orban warns ‘we could end up in World War 3’ as PM defies West [LATEST]
Ukraine knocking out Russian battlefield high-tech radars[LATEST]

Analysts at the UK’s Ministry of Defence and at the US think-tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in recent days suggested that the Russian attack on Bakhmut was possibly stalling.

The pro-democracy campaigner is determined to build a new Russia that will finally emerge from the darkness of its despotic past.

He said: “We have to create another system, not only in comparison with that of Putin’s – who’s Putin? – but in comparison with all the other previous models of state and country.

“To create something which will not be an empire, will not be a hegemony.

“In short, a country that will have nothing in common with Putin’s Russia, nor with the Bolshevik’s Russia, or the Romanov’s empire. But another country.”

Source: Read Full Article