| So it has been repeatedly claimed, and just as repeatedly denied. |
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Russian despot Vladimir Putin is a 'dead man walking' who rarely steps foot outside the Kremlin, British military experts have claimed.
The health of Putin, 72, has long been suspected to be deteriorating with his increasing age, and now experts have said that his brutal invasion of Ukraine has sapped much of his remaining energy.
Former commander of the UK's Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told the Mirror: 'There are analysts, people who know better than I, who believe Putin is now a dead man walking, a spent force whose war in Ukraine will cause his end.'
Bruce Jones, one of the UK's leading analysts of Russia, added: 'Things never end democratically in Russia and the situation is bad for Putin. He has had people killed for years and some in his military have already been dealt with in such a way - he knows the way this goes for a leader in Moscow who is not making good decisions. So he is probably right to be paranoid.'
And Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, added: 'There are plenty of people who would want to have Putin bumped off. But his security is so tight that there is a real question over whether that is at all achievable and I believe that for the moment it is unlikely to happen.'
The speculation comes as the Kremlin yesterday revealed that it had left Putin's name off the Russian delegation attending talks with Ukraine in Turkey.
Moscow said that its envoy of four would not include the president who began the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is not currently known why Putin, who did not say whether he would attend, has not confirmed his appearance at the talks.
US President Donald Trump will also not be attending the peace talks in Turkey, a US official said in response to the Kremlin's announcement.
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