Russia has suffered significant losses during its eight-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine, something which could have serious ramifications for the country’s dictator.
According to Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reign is unlikely to survive a battlefield defeat.
“Active discussions”
According to the Washington Examiner, Budanov made that prediction last week during an interview with The War Zone host Howard Altman.
“It’s unlikely that he survives it,” the general said about the prospect of Russian forces being driven out of Ukraine. “And currently, there’s active discussions happening in Russia about who’d be there to replace him.”
Budanov also addressed concerns that nuclear weapons could be used in Ukraine, saying that it “is possible” should Putin become sufficiently desperate but added, “We’re not observing any preparations for a nuclear strike at Ukraine.”
“Dirty bomb” threat
He then dismissed suggestions that Ukraine has any intention of using a nuclear “dirty bomb” against Russian forces, insisting, “It has never planned, it’s not planning and it’s not going to plan to do anything like that.”
At one point, Altman mentioned reports that American-trained special forces from Afghanistan are being deployed to Ukraine by Afghanistan.
Haibatullah Alizai, Afghan’s last army commander, tells me that former Afghan SOF troops are fighting in Ukraine for Russia, while many more are being recruited by Iran and Russia.https://t.co/67qjZLWtPM
— Howard Altman (@haltman) October 26, 2022
“The Russian grouping [in Ukraine] is over 170,000 troops and they’ve mobilized another 220,000,” he said. “I don’t believe that any country across the world is able to provide a quantity of mercenaries that can be somehow compared to this armada we’re facing.”
Tucker Carlson fears Putin’s fall could result in nuclear chaos
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been a vocal critic of President Joe Biden’s policy towards Ukraine, and during a broadcast earlier this month he discussed the risks that could come with Putin being killed or deposed.
“Where would that leave Russia, the country [Putin] controls?” Carlson asked before noting, “It is a huge country, a highly fractious country with a large and very restive Muslim population.”
“What are the chances that one of those 6,200 nuclear weapons might wind up in the hands of someone who is truly crazy and dangerous to us and to the world?”