Flabby-mir Putin: Russia’s President Vladimir looks bloated and ashen in meeting
Flabby-mir Putin: Russia’s President Vladimir looks bloated and ashen in meeting as pressure of his Ukrainian invasion takes its toll on his appearance
Putin was meeting with Governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander BeglovThe pair sat opposing each other across a desk in the KremlinSocial media users picked up on his apparently pale appearance
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Vladimir Putin was said to be looking ‘ashen and bloated’ in a meeting today as the global condemnation of his invasion of Ukraine continued.
In an image released by the Kremlin, the Russian president was seen in Moscow sitting with the Governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander Beglov.
The pair sat opposite each other across a desk in the Kremlin and viewers on social media picked up on the under-pressure Russian leader’s apparently pale appearance.
One said: ‘Putin does not look well… he’s ashen and bloated.’
Another noted that he was sitting very close to Mr Beglov, despite the fact that in recent months he has been pictured keeping his distance from aides and other world leaders due to alleged fears about catching coronavirus.
Vladimir Putin was said to be looking ‘ashen and bloated’ in a meeting today as the global condemnation of his invasion of Ukraine continued. In an image released by the Kremlin, the Russian president was seen in Moscow sitting with the Governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander Beglov
The pair sat opposite each other across a desk and viewers on social media picked up on the under-pressure Russian leader’s apparently pale appearance. One said: ‘Putin does not look well… he’s ashen and bloated’
The image was released before Russia was slammed for bombing the Babyn Yar holocaust memorial in Kyiv on the site of one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Holocaust.
Explosions erupted around the capital’s 1,300ft TV tower this afternoon, built by the ravine where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed by SS troops in two days in 1941 during Adolf Hitler’s campaign against the Soviet Union.
At least two large blasts were seen near the foot of the tower, around three miles from central Kyiv, around 5.30pm local time. The first missile struck the TV tower but the second hit the memorial.
At least five people were killed in the latest onslaught which came just hours after Russia told Ukrainian civilians to evacuate because it was about to begin bombarding ‘strategic’ targets.
It was not immediately clear whether the tower had been the target of the strikes, or whether they had been targeting nearby buildings. The tower remained standing, but several state broadcasts went off air.
Earlier China’s foreign minister dealt a further blow to the isolated Putin when he said he ‘deeply regrets’ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Explosions erupted around the capital’s 1,300ft TV tower this afternoon, built by the ravine where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed by SS troops in two days in 1941 during Adolf Hitler’s campaign against the Soviet Union
Putin is relying on his ties to China’s Xi Jinping to bail him out of the increasingly tough sanctions being put on Moscow by Western nations as the invasion escalates.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Dmytro Kuleba that Beijing ‘deeply regrets that conflict has broken out between Ukraine and Russia, and is paying extreme attention to the harm suffered by civilians’, state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that Wang called for the two countries to ‘find a way to resolve the issue through negotiations’.
China has found itself walking a diplomatic tightrope after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine took many in Beijing by surprise.
It was reported over the weekend that several Chinese public banks are limiting financing to purchase raw materials from Russia for fear of Western sanctions should they be seen to be supporting the Kremlin.
About 30 percent of oil and gas produced in Russia now sold to China.
Putin is relying on his ties to China’s Xi Jinping to bail him out of the increasingly tough sanctions being put on Moscow by Western nations as the invasion escalates.
On February 26, China, India and the UAE abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The vote was seen as another sign of the widening of the diplomatic split between the West and the East over Putin’s aggression.
However, China’s decision not to fully veto the motion – as Russia did – will come as a blow to the Russian dictator.
Who could replace Putin if he is toppled in a coup? The rogues’ gallery of henchmen including spy chief who ‘approved’ Litvinenko poisoning who could assume control of Russia if president is overthrown
Putin’s nuclear threats and war crimes could lead to his ousting by his own partyIf the Russian dictator is removed, several of his inner circle could take the reinsThe candidates include the head of the FSB, the head of the Russian army, the defence minister in charge of Ukraine’s invasion or the current Prime Minister
By Chay Quinn for MailOnline
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised fears over the mental stability of President Vladimir Putin.
The brazen act of war alongside manic speeches broadcast on state media have convinced analysts that the Russian dictator is acting irrationally.
His order for Russia’s nuclear deterrent to be placed on high alert and his implicit threat of nuclear war if the West intervenes in the invasion of Ukraine even seemingly shocked his own military staff.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised fears over the mental stability of President Vladimir Putin
With the stakes mounting and the West applying pressure on the Russian economy, the chances of Putin being removed from power in a coup has become more likely.
But could the next President of Ukraine be even worse than Putin? MailOnline takes a look at some of the potential replacements for the tyrant.
Sergey Shoygu (Minister of Defence)
Shoygu is Russia’s ‘second-most’ popular politician after Vladimir Putin.
The defence minister from Chadan, in eastern Russia, has been instrumental in organising the invasion of Ukraine but was tellingly caught on camera grimacing after Putin ordered him and army chief Valery Gerasimov to place Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert.
Shoygu took the role despite having no military experience in 2012 and presided over the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The defence minister from Chadan, in eastern Russia, has been instrumental in organising the invasion of Ukraine but was tellingly caught on camera grimacing after Putin ordered him and army chief Valery Gerasimov to place Russia’s nuclear deterrent on high alert
Reports have said that Shoygu is considered to be Russia’s greatest military leader since Georgy Zhukov, the general who defeated Nazi Germany in World War Two.
His ascent to power would be complicated by his inextricable involvement in the invasion in Ukraine though he is said to be more pragmatic than Putin which could spell a withdrawal from the country in a way that could thaw relations with the West.
Vera Tolz-Zilitinkevic, Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Manchester told MailOnline: ‘He is a very, very powerful person at the moment. He’s seen as a pragmatist in a way so again, in a way they are all better than Putin’.
She caveated: ‘Circumstances where we are talking about when Putin is replaced are clearly circumstances where when [the Russian army] had lost [in Ukraine].
‘So Shoygu is held directly implicated in organising this campaign and that might work against him.’
Nikolai Patrushev (Secretary of the Security Council)
Patrushev is the former head of the FSB, the successor to the fearsome Soviet spy agency, the KGB.
The Secretary of the Security Council is said to share the conspiratorial world view that former FSB head Putin also shares.
The Secretary of the Security Council is said to share the conspiratorial wolrdview that former FSB head Putin also shares
The UK found in an investigation that Patrushev had most likely ordered the poisoning of dissident former agent Alexander Litvinenko with polonium on British soil in 2006
While he was head of the FSB, the UK found in an investigation that Patrushev had most likely ordered the poisoning of dissident former agent Alexander Litvinenko with polonium on British soil in 2006.
He has gone on record with his belief that the United States would ‘rather Russia not exist at all’.
Prof Tolz-Zilitinkevic said: ‘The association with the FSB is a very strong negative.
‘You can see with Putin and many intelligence officers across the world, even in democracies, they have conspiratorial worldview, which is not very helpful if you are a leader of a country.
‘[Patrushev is] a pretty bad choice. But it is a possibility.
‘He has a paranoid worldview that the world is out to get him and he has to sort of unmask potential threats.’
Valery Gerasimov (Army chief)
Gerasimov has been the head of the Russian army since 2012 since he was appointed by Putin.
He is the strategist who created ‘the Gerasimov doctrine’ which combines economic, cultural, informational and military tactics to achieve strategic goals for Russia.
This includes Russian actions throughout the last two decades such as interference in the US presidential election in 2016 and Russia’s successful bids to host the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Gerasimov is the strategist who created ‘the Gerasimov doctrine’ which combines economic, cultural, informational and military tactics to achieve strategic goals for Russia
The general is another who would have to overcome his involvement in the invasion of Ukraine in order to succeed Putin.
Prof Tolz-Zilitinkevic said that while the military placing him in charge after a coup is possible – it is much more likely that the removal of Putin comes from the political elite.
Russian history shows that the military do not usually involve themselves in regime changes, according to the Professor of Russian Studies.
She said: ‘Historically, not only today, the military are under a very strict control of the political elite.
Prof Tolz-Zilitinkevic added that even in the case of Nikita Khrushchev’s manic decision-making in the early 1960s, it was political elites who removed him from power.
Dmitry Medvedev (Deputy Chair of the Security Council and Former President)
Medvedev was President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 after Putin’s second term had ended and now holds the position of Deputy Chair of the Security Council.
The St Petersburg-born lawyer was elected on a promise of making Putin his Prime Minister which he promptly did.
When Putin took power again in 2012, he returned the favour by gifting Medvedev the role of Prime Minister.
Medvedev held the role for eight years before he and his government in the Duma resigned to clear the path for Vladimir Putin to enact sweeping constitutional changes.
While he has experience with the presidency, Medvedev, from St Petersburg, is not considered a threat by Putin, according to experts
These changes included nullifying the terms Putin had already served and allowing him to cling onto power until 2034.
While he has experience with the presidency, the lawyer from St Petersburg is not considered a threat by Putin according to experts.
The very fact that he was trusted to be interim President by Putin implies that Medvedev is not considered strong enough to challenge the dictator’s leadership.
Prof Tolz-Zilitinkevic said: ‘The situation would be if Putin is removed would be extraordinary and Russia would be on the brink of complete collapse.
‘I do not think that the elites would choose somebody who is as weak in general as Medvedev’.
‘When he was President, liberalism is not the word but within that system, his instincts were quite liberal.
‘He comes from a kind of liberal intelligentsia family in St. Petersburg. He’s not a strong politician. He’s a nobody.’
Mikhail Mishustin (Prime Minister)
The current Prime Minister of Russia took office just before the Covid pandemic began and was appointed following Medvedev’s resignation.
The former tax police officer would satisfy a number of groups in the Kremlin and within Russia itself.
Former tax police officer Mishustin would satisfy a number of groups in the Kremlin and within Russia itself
The Moscow-born politician embarked on a popular tour of Russia in order to assess living conditions and help regional development before Covid cut the tour short.
Prof Tolz-Zilitinkevic noted: ‘He would satisfy a lot of different groupings around the country.
‘In the senses of the system, he is fairly benign.’
