VLADIMIR Putin has given his clearest signal yet that he’s ready to step down — saying he’s “not afraid to hand over the country” to Russia’s new elite.
The 72-year-old tyrant made the bombshell remarks while praising a suspected war criminal accused of taking part in the Bucha massacre.
East2WestVladimir Putin dropped his strongest hint so far that he’s preparing to step aside as Russia’s tyrant[/caption]
East2WestVlad said he’s “not afraid to hand over the country” to a new generation of Russians like ‘war torturer’ Nursultan Mussagaleev (pictured)[/caption]
East2WestMussagaleev, 27, is accused of atrocities at Bucha in Ukraine[/caption]
East2WestSat next to Putin, the former paratrooper was fast-tracked to become a district head and deputy minister in the Orenburg region[/caption]
Torturer Nursultan Mussagaleev, 27 — groomed by the Kremlin as a future politician — sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Putin at a hero-worshipping meeting in Moscow.
Despite Ukraine accusing him of “violating the laws and customs of war”, the alleged Butcher of Bucha was given pride of place next to the Kremlin leader.
Mad Vlad ignored the explosive charges, instead declaring: “These are the people, this is the elite, the future of the country is theirs.
“And I am not afraid to hand over the country to such people.”
The chilling statement marks one of the clearest signals yet that Putin is planning for life after power — and potentially grooming accused war criminals to run Russia in his place.
Mussagaleev is alleged to have ordered the torture of a 29-year-old civilian at a checkpoint in Bucha — a man who was later taken to a forest and shot dead.
Despite this, Putin hailed him and others in the “Time for Heroes” programme as the next generation of leadership.
He even took aim at the old guard, saying Russia’s future elite should not be wealthy oligarchs who “stole” money, but men like Mussagaleev “who defend the Motherland”.
The 27-year-old former paratrooper — now fast-tracked to become a district head and deputy minister in the Orenburg region — called on Putin to erect statues and build museums to commemorate “heroes” of the Ukraine war.
Addressing the dictator, he said: “Dear Vladimir, I am an officer, graduated from the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School.
“I served in the 104th Airborne Assault Regiment of the 76th Airborne Assault Division.
“I have state awards. From the first days I took part in the special military operation…”
He added: “After the end of the special military operation, we must think about creating a federal museum dedicated to all defenders of the Fatherland.”
The shocking endorsement comes amid frenzied speculation that Putin is preparing to bow out after more than two decades at the top.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed: “Putin will die soon, and that’s a fact.”
He accused the Kremlin of hiding the dictator’s ill health and warned the world not to drop its guard.
Zelensky, speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, said the ageing autocrat “fears his own society”.
GettyThere has been long-swirling speculation around Vladimir Putin’s health[/caption]
AFPPresident Zelensky said that Vlad ‘will soon die’[/caption]
Putin — long rumoured to be suffering from cancer or Parkinson’s — has been spotted with tremoring hands, a puffy face, slurred speech, and twitching legs.
Some believe he now uses body doubles for key events.
Meanwhile, experts warn Russia could spiral into chaos when Putin goes.
Former Kremlin adviser Nikolay Petrov told The Sun that Putin’s regime “is unlikely to outlive its creator”, warning: “The elites are hostages of Putin, absolutely dependent on him.”
He said if Putin resigns or dies, “an internal struggle for power will begin” and could even result in “a military-backed rise to the top” — naming Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov as a possible contender.
Petrov believes the Kremlin’s authoritarian structure could crumble fast, saying: “The future after Putin is unlikely to be better than the present.”
Despite outward appearances of control, the Kremlin has already started adapting to the ageing strongman’s decline.
Petrov said: “Putin is ageing, and regardless of his physical condition, in which he invests a lot, he is gradually ceasing to be an autocratic tsar.”
Who could replace Putin?
THREE men have been lined up as Vlad’s potential replacements.
Alexander Bortnikov
Head of Russia’s security services (FSB), he has long been tipped to replace Putin
He worked from 1975 to 2004 in the secret police before joining the FSB
Under his leadership, the FSB is accused of destroying opposition parties, the free press, and civil rights groups
He initiated the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and was slapped with sanctions by the EU as a result
In May, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence claimed Bortnikov and other members of the Russian elite were considering ‘poisoning’ the president to remove him from power
Nikolai Patrushev
Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Patrushev was formerly director of the FSB from 1999 to 2008
He met Putin when both were in the KGB and the two became close, with Vlad rewarding him with his prestigious new role after becoming president
Patrushev is accused of involvement in a series of deadly apartment bombings in Russia in 1999 that killed around 300 civilians, which Putin blamed on “Chechen separatists”
He is also believed to have approved the assassination of FSB whistleblower Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in London
Former intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler describes Patrushev as the “only person” Putin trusts
She also described him as a “rabid anti-American propagandist” who recently accused the US of planning to nuke Ukraine and blame Russia
Sergey Glazyev
Putin’s notoriously-blunt economics adviser, Glazyev was born in what is now Ukraine
In 1999, he wrote a book “Genocide: Russia and the New World Order”, accusing the country’s oligarchs of causing a devastating annual population decline
He has warned of a “global war” between Russia and the US since 2015, when he said America’s capitalist model was entering a phase of self-destruction
In 2016, Ukraine published wiretapped phone calls of Glazyev organising pro-Russian riots in Ukrainian cities
Glazyev has also spread anti-Semitic propaganda about Ukraine’s president Zelensky, who is Jewish
In 2019, he accused Zelensky of planning to replace the Russian-speaking population of eastern Ukraine with Israeli Jews
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