Rumors about the health of Vladimir Putin, 70 years old in October, are unverifiable. The Chief of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, in any case, disagreed this Sunday against echoes concerning the health of Russian President Vladimir Putin or the possibility that he could be assassinated.
“I think some of the comments about him (Putin) not being in good health or that he ends up getting murdered, well I think that’s wishful thinking,” Tony said on the BBC on Friday. Radakin in an interview published this Sunday.
“As military professionals, we see a relatively stable regime in Russia, President Putin has been able to stifle all opposition (…) and no one at the top has the motivation to challenge him,” he said. supported.
“The challenge posed by Russia will last”
According to him, “the challenge posed by Russia will last” potentially for “decades in terms of threat” and the Prime Minister who will succeed Boris Johnson, who has resigned, will have to be aware that Russia is “the greatest threat” to the world. UK.
Tony Radakin told the BBC that the Ukrainian army was “absolutely” confident that it would win the war sparked by Russia’s invasion of the country in February. According to British Army estimates, Russia “has lost more than 30% of its ground combat effectiveness”.
“This means that 50,000 Russian soldiers died or were injured in this conflict, that almost 1,700 Russian tanks were destroyed, that almost 4,000 armored vehicles belonging to Russia were destroyed,” said Tony Radakin.
“The extraordinary responsibility” of the future Prime Minister
The situation in Ukraine will dominate the military accounts of the future prime minister, who will replace Boris Johnson in September. “And then we will have to remind the Prime Minister of the extraordinary responsibility he has with the UK as a nuclear power. »
Tony Radakin was also asked about a BBC investigation which revealed this week that a commando from the Special Air Service (SAS), the British special forces, had killed at least 54 people in suspicious circumstances in Afghanistan, facts concealed by their hierarchy.
The military police have already established that “it did not happen”, but they will re-examine the matter if new concrete evidence emerges, swept the Briton.