Ilya Ponomarev, an exiled Russian politician, believes that Russian President Vladimir Putinwill be eliminated before the end of this year (2023).
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Alluding to a betrayal
Ponomarev served as a Russian Parliamentarian between 2007 and 2016. He was the only politician to vote against the invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Now Ponomarev lives in Ukraine where he holds citizenship and has initiated a movement to reform Russia into a fully-fledged democracy.
Ponomarev told Newsweek this week in Kyiv that he thinks Putin's inner circle will betray and turn on him before his next birthday:
Putin's power resides in his position as an alpha male, as the person who is invincible. 2022 was the year when this position started to wane. My forecast still remains that he will not see his next birthday.
Putin turns 71 on October 7 2023.
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A desire to see Putin in court
Ponomarev expressed a desireto see Putin be sued by the International Criminal Court (ICC):
My personal dream obviously is to see him in The Hague but I don't think that he will make it.
The ICC goes after those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It is located in the Dutch city of The Hague.
Nevertheless, Ponomarev does not believe that it will get to that because he thinks thatPutin holds too much information and thus would be eliminated:
Those around him will not allow him to go to the Hague, because his testimony may actually be very harmful for them. He will be killed.
In recent months, there has been an orchestrated effort underway to investigate Russian actions in Ukraine which many analysts have described as 'systematic war crimes', Daily Mail reports.
Some of the alleged Russian actions have been classified as crimes against humanity:
Targeted attacks on civilians, the use of rape as a weapon of war, the abduction of children and summary executions could all constitute war crimes.
To date, no case has been initiated against Putin or Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Sources used:
-Newsweek: 'Putin Will Not Live to See 2024, Says Exiled Russian Official'
-DailyMail: 'Putin 'will be dead by October': Only Russian politician to vote against Ukraine war says Vladimir will be killed before his birthday due to growing concern over failed invasion