When President Vladimir Putin yelled, “We will win!” at a Red Square concert to celebrate his illegal annexation of Ukrainian lands on Friday, he projected the hubris of a man who cannot accept defeat.
Putin has said Russia will not lose in Ukraine. But multiple battlefield defeats and national fury over a botched military mobilization have broken a taboo in Moscow on discussions about what would happen if Putin did lose — not just the war, but his seeming bid to be leader-for-life, according to four members of Russia’s business elite. Kremlin-watchers, in and out of the capital, are asking: Who might come next?
#Ukraine: The aftermath of Russian artillery shelling on a group of Ukrainian vehicles in #Kherson Oblast – a Kozak-2 armored vehicle, VAB APC 🇫🇷 and what appears to be KrAZ Cobra were destroyed. pic.twitter.com/f8k2juxxQn
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) October 7, 2022
