A source for The Daily Mail, via the Jerusalem Post, reveals that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to retire later this year.
In the report, Putin would like to endorse a potential successor before retiring to his palatial home near the Black Sea. The longtime Russian president is also planning his exit strategy, before any "coup" attempt could take place.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been ongoing for nearly 11 full months, the Daily Mail source said that Putin will soon negotiate an end to the military conflict.
"The Russian despot will probably nominate one of his loyalists like the mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin or his deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kuzak," said the source about Putin's likely plans for retirement and Russia's 2024 elections.
In terms of coup speculation, the Daily Mail reports the rise of Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of the owners of the Wagner mercenary group, has been a source of contention with Putin.
"Prigozhin has been fighting for more power and resources, which shows his desire to push Putin to the side," the Daily Mail writes.
The publication's source, who purports to be a former ally of the Russian president, says that "Putin's whole apparatus is looking wearily at Prigozhin and is scared he will come after them."
The source also lamented that "Putin really might not be reelected, if he will stand again. He would try to fake the outcome, but this is too much of a risk for the system. He may appoint a trusted person as president, if they could win the elections."
It's been a physically taxing 11 months for Putin, coinciding with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last Feb. 24.
Last May, Newsmax chronicled how Putin's actions at his country's annual holiday celebration raised concerns about his health and well-being.
For the "Victory Day" parade, which commemorates the Soviet Union's World War II defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, Putin was reportedly draped with a heavy blanket on his leg, despite being surrounded by older military veterans who apparently didn't have extra coverings
Putin, 69, appeared to be in good spirits during his address, and didn't require extra assistance from the base of the speaker's podium. The Russian president, however, reportedly had a noticeable limp when getting up to make his speech.
Shortly before that, Newsweek reported that Putin had been seen gripping a table, for assistance, while meeting with his defense minister. The presumptions ran rampant after that, including some suspicion of Parkinson's disease — a diagnosis that has neither been confirmed nor denied by the Kremlin.
"The Russians are trying to wear down the Ukrainians' will to resist by shelling Ukrainian cities and killing Ukrainian soldiers in large numbers," a senior-level British military expert recently told the Daily Mail. "Now, it''s really up to the Ukrainians to continue attacking the Russians and kill as many Russians as possible to deplete their forces as well. So in a sense, we are in a kind of war of attrition that could develop potentially, from one side or the other.
"Putin is quite concerned about the impact of large-scale casualties on cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, and that's why he's focused a huge amount of time on recruiting from some of the peripheral areas like Siberia," the source continued.
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