Putin will eventually be killed by his inner circle, Zelenskyy says
27 February 2023, 08:09 | Updated: 27 February 2023, 08:32
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned President Putin will eventually be killed by those closest to him after they find a reason to "kill a killer".
Speaking in a Ukrainian documentary, Mr Zelesnkyy said the "fragility of Putin's regime" will eventually be felt inside Russia, which will end in his death.
"There will definitely be a moment when the fragility of Putin’s regime will be felt inside the [Russian] state,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
“And then the predators will devour a predator. They will find a reason to kill a killer.”
It has been widely believed that no one inside Putin's inner circle, which is primarily made up of ex-KGB officers, would move against their President.
But Russia's failure to take Ukraine as quickly as originally planned has sparked some in-fighting within Putin's regime.
Over the weekend, head of the Wagner Group of mercenaries Yevgeny Prigozhin called for the defence minister's son-in-law Alexei Stolyarov to be sent to the frontline after he reportedly liked an anti-war post online.
Read More: 'Victory is inevitable' if allies do their homework, says Zelenskyy as more sanctions announced
Mr Zelenskyy's remarks came shortly after the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which took place on February 24 last year.
Zelenskyy told Ukrainians they are "invincible" and vowed "2023 will be the year of victory" in a defiant message of hope delivered in Kyiv.
We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory!" he said in a defiant video address.He recalled the terror unleashed a year ago by the Russian assault, triggering Europe's biggest and deadliest war since the Second World War.
"We survived the first day of the full-scale war. We didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but we clearly understood that for each tomorrow, you need to fight. And we fought," he said.
Meanwhile, Putin told Russian state TV that his country has no choice but to take into account Nato’s nuclear capabilities.
He made the remarks in justifying Russia’s recent suspension of its participation in the New START treaty, which seeks to cap the number of nuclear warheads possessed by the US and Russia
Putin claimed that Russia faces an existential threat because, in his view, Nato members are seeking the country’s “strategic defeat”.
He said on Russian state TV, that the suspension of New START stemmed from the need to “ensure security, strategic stability” for Russia.
