Daniel Hoffman said any plot to remove the Russian president could be potentially deadly because they won’t ask, “Hey Vladimir, would you like to leave?” Speaking to The Daily Beast, the American espionage expert said it will happen “suddenly” and “he will be dead”.
He said: “These guys who are going to do it will be so secretive about it so that Putin doesn’t find them and kill them first.
‘It will happen suddenly. And he will be dead.
“No one will ask, “Hey Vladimir, do you want to leave?
“No. It’s finished†g hammer to the head and he’s dead.
‘Or it’s time to go to the sanitarium. They are ashamed of it.
“They will.”
Mr Hoffman speculated that there could be three key figures behind a plot to get rid of the Russian president.
Among them are Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev and FSB director Alexander Bortnikov.
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Michael Clarke, a colleague from King’s College London, told Sky News earlier this month that despite Putin trying to “embalm” himself, he thought the former KGB officer was just a “hypochondriac”.
He said, “On October 7, he will be 70.
“He’s been known to hit pretty heavy botox. I always say he tries to embalm himself while he’s alive – he does take a lot of Botox.
“He travels around with doctors, there is a known small team of doctors who are never far away, and it is said that he regularly leaves meetings to consult with someone.
“I suspect he’s just a hypochondriac, to be honest.
“If he is sick or gets sick, that would be a way out for Russia to say that the president has resigned and that the war will now be continued by Nikolai Patrushev – who is just as filthy as he is.”