The chief of the British armed forces has rejected speculation that the Russian president Vladimir Putin is “not good” or could be murdered as “wishful thinking”.
Britain’s chief of defense staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, was asked whether President Putin, who launched an invasion of Ukraine in February, could be “overthrown” or undergo “regime change”.
But he told Sophie Raworth on BBC One’s Sunday Morning show: “I think some of the comments” that he is not well or that really definitely someone is going to kill him or take him out, I think it’s wishful thinking.
“As military professionals we see a relatively stable regime in Russia, President Putin has been able to crush every opposition, we see a hierarchy invested in President Putin and so no one at the top has the motivation to expel President Putin. days, and that’s bleak.”
He said Russia’s “challenge” may continue for decades to come in terms of Russia as a threat,” and that the next prime minister should know that Russia is “the biggest threat” to the UK.
He added: “So the biggest threat is Russia, and that is Russia in all its guises if you look at it militarily.
“The land forces are probably less of a threat in the short term because of that degradation, that exhaustion that we see with their struggle in Ukraine.
“But Russia remains a nuclear power, it has cyber capabilities, it has space capabilities and it has certain programs underwater so it can threaten the underwater cables that allow the world’s information to travel around the world.”