Russian President Vladimir Putin will sooner or later be killed by his own people.
This is what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi claims in the new Ukrainian documentary “The Year”produced and directed by the famous Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Komarov.
– There will definitely come a moment when the fragility of Putin’s regime will be felt inside the state. Then predators will eat predators. Then comes an important moment. They will need a reason, and then they will want to remember the words of Komarov, Zelenskyj and others. They will remember, and they will find a reason to kill a murderer, says Zelenskyj.
– Do not know
Komarov’s documentary was published on Saturday, one day after the anniversary of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time of writing, it has approximately two million views.
In addition to interviews with Zelenskyj and other high-ranking figures in Ukraine’s political and military leadership, the documentary also takes viewers to various parts of Ukraine.
– Depending on the war
Komarov was one of the first journalists to document the Russian abuses against the civilian population in the Kyiv suburbs of Butsha, Irpin and Hostomel. He was also among the first to enter the liberated areas of Kharkiv county and Kherson city.
Zelenskyi’s brutal Putin prediction is the first part of a longer argument for why the president thinks it is important to constantly remind the outside world of exactly what Russia is doing in Ukraine.
– Will it work? Yes. When? I don’t know that, he says.
Uncertainty about sanctions
There is currently little indication that a so-called palace coup in Russia will possibly take place in the near future.
Although there is great uncertainty surrounding even independent opinion polls conducted in Russia, all available data suggest that Putin is still a popular man among the Russian people.
The West’s sanctions against Russia are partly designed to create dissatisfaction with the Russian regime, including the ban on exporting so-called luxury goods to Russia.
These can take over after Putin
Commentator in Dagbladet, Morten Strand, meanwhile, believes that something else will influence Putin’s support from Russian citizens, before they tire of the sanctions.
– Before the economy knocks them out, I think that all the homecomings in coffins will be a bigger burden, said Strand, former Russia correspondent, during Dagbladet TV’s annual summary of the war earlier this week.
The sanctions able to function if Putin’s close circle gets enough, Strand told.
– The second thing that can happen is that enough people in the circle realize that something must be done and carry out a coup, he said.
