Everything will eventually end with a tactical nuclear strike “somewhere”. Ukraine's ultimate victory, which is entirely real, would encourage a losing Vladimir Putin to use tactical nuclear weapons. He understands that defeat in the war will be the end not only of his power, but also of his life, as well as the life of his family.
This was stated in an interview with Oboz.ua by the former KGB and foreign intelligence officer of the Russian Federation Sergey Zhirnov (now living in France), commenting on the ongoing offensive of the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region.
Zhirnov pointed out that the surprising Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region showed how vulnerable the Russian Federation is. The elite in Moscow also know this, but are afraid to do something about it, and at the moment there is no prospect that the oligarchs in particular will oust Putin.
In the Russian Federation there is no such sacred property right that exists in Western countries. That is, any business can be taken away from them, no matter how big it is and how many years they have been doing it. And that's why they all disagree with what Putin is doing, except those who make money from the military-industrial complex.
Sergei Zhirnov also said that the operation of the Ukrainian forces is a serious blow to Russia as a nuclear state, which suddenly found that it cannot defend even its own territory. In addition to losing control over their own territory, the local authorities simply abandoned the entire population.
The former Russian spy said there is a misunderstanding in the West about how the Russian state functions. The option of Putin saying at some point that he will stop the war against Ukraine is excluded. The only way to remove him is through a coup, in which Russian circles will blame Putin personally for all evils. Putin does not have a normal perception of events, and therefore it is simply useless to call him to some rationality, said Zhirnov.