First Coup, Now the Madhouse? Ex-MI6 Head Claims Putin Will End Up in Sanatorium, Lose Power by 2023
3 hours ago
A former MI6 director has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will end up in a long-term medical institution by next year as rumors that the president's health has deteriorated continue to circulate.
In an episode of the "One Decision" podcast,Richard Dearlovesuggested that Putin, 69, will be transferred to a sanatorium as part of an exit strategy for Russia's elites.
"I’m really going to stick my neck out. I think he’ll be gone by 2023," Dearlove, a co-host of the podcast who headed the MI6 from 1999 to 2004, claimed. "Probably into the sanatorium, from which he will not emerge as leader of Russia."
According to Dearlove, putting Putin in a medical facility would be an "elegant" alternative to a coup. He further claimed that if Putin steps down, Moscow has no succession plan in place, but that Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev will allegedly take over.
"If my thesis were fulfilled and Putin did disappear into a sanatorium, I think he’s the likely stand-in," Dearlove said. "And of course the stand-in [in] this scenario probably becomes permanent. I mean, you know there is no succession in the Russian leadership. They certainly don’t succession-plan."
According to the Russian Constitution, in all cases when the president of Russia is unable to fulfill his duties during the incumbent term, they are temporarily performed by the prime minister of the government of the Russian Federation, who since January 2020 is Mikhail Mishustin.
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