Ex-US Intelligence Officer: Putin Will End Up Like Hitler
15- 25.05.2025, 21:26
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David Carstens called out the vulnerabilities of the Russian dictator.
Former US military intelligence officer and security expert David H. Carstens has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has four glaring vulnerabilities that could ultimately lead to his downfall, reports The Sun.
His weaknesses could lead to him suffering the same fate as Adolf Hitler, he said. And, he added, the tyrant's "Achilles' heel" puts Russia on course for the highest number of casualties this year since the war began. He believes 2025 is likely to be the deadliest year of the war for Putin.
Carstens expressed the view that Putin is continuing the war despite the colossal casualties because he "feels no real pressure" to conclude a peace deal.
"Russia thinks it's negotiating from a position of strength. And that's strange because Russia has suffered staggering losses over the past four months. The UK Ministry of Defense has estimated 160,000 Russian casualties in the first four months of 2025," the expert said.
"Talking about Putin's critical vulnerabilities, Carstens noted that the first is that his troops are not a limitless resource.
"Secondly, Russia's economy is very fragile. If there is some kind of economic shock, like a sharp drop in fuel prices or the loss of a strategic trading partner, I think the system could destabilize," the former intelligence officer said.
The third vulnerability of Putin, he said, is that he depends on a very narrow inner circle of individuals:
"His security services, the FSB, his oligarchs, some loyal military commanders. If there are continued failures in the war, if there is, you know, continued use of soldiers...insecurity will grow, and that could split the inner circle."
The fourth weakness of Putin, Carstens believes, is that he is "bogged down in a conflict that he can't sustain":
"It's exactly the same type of overextension that ultimately defeated Hitler in his conquest of Europe."