Russia drone attacks may be demise of Vladimir Putin: expert

A series of drone attacks in Moscow over the past month may spell the beginning of the end of Russia’s dominance over Ukraine — and could lead to the demise of President Vladimir Putin, says an expert on the region.

“This is the beginning of the end for Putin,” said Luke Coffey, an expert on Russia from the Hudson Institute, a Washington, DC-based think-tank, according to the Daily Mail.

“The trajectory now is towards Putin being ousted and the further breakup of the Russian Federation.”

Two suicide drones exploded over the roof of the Kremlin on May 3, and weeks later, drones hit Moscow’s wealthy suburbs as Ukraine began its counteroffensive against Russia.

Coffey told the outlet that a Russian defeat in the Ukraine war is inevitable, although he did not know how long it would take.

But when it does come, he predicted that it would lead to the collapse of the Russian Federation.

Coffey said historians will likely cite February 2022, the month Russia invaded Ukraine, as “the most significant moment of that collapse.”

“The dust is still settling. I believe the 15 countries that emerged in 1991 [when the Soviet Union collapsed] was the safety glass breaking,” he added. “The next round of shattering will be like a 150-year-old pane of glass breaking in an old house. It will shatter in dangerous ways and won’t be easy to repair or fix.”

Coffey said a Russian defeat will lead to further divisions among the country’s elites, with hardliners turning against Putin and oligarchs demanding an end to the bloodshed — and their pariah status in the West in an attempt to maintain their own wealth and power.

Putin, he said, will either end up dead or forced into exile.