Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
As much as we like to think that things like this are going to happen, its more hollywood then anything else and not likely to happen.
Putin isn't getting assassinated, and he's ruthless enough about the supression of his own people and seems to have strong control on the his internal security apparatus.
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If he was feeling secure about his position and the loyalty of his safety apparatus, he wouldn't be hiding in a bunker in an undisclosed location sending out somewhat weird and rambling videos and and not even letting his own generals get physically near him.
One major reason why dictators or world leaders in general can't just spend their time hiding away somewhere out of sight is that you need to be at the actual center of power, and be seen doing it, to be regarded as the actual leader long-term.
So much of this whole situation is unprecedented (as historical situations often are) that I don't want to sound like I have a crystal ball, but when dictators are at the "hiding away in a bunker somewhere and sounding a bit unhinged" stage, that tends to be the last stage of their reign. The idea of Putin getting murdered (or committing a "surprise suicide") might seem far-fetched at the moment, but to me it doesn't seem any more unrealistic than this current scenario continuing for very long.
The whole nation of Russia is gridlocked into a horrible situation that very few wanted or even knew about in advance, and it's costing lives, money, resources and allies and just hurting every person living in Russia in some way. Just getting rid of one guy would go a hell of a long way to start fixing the immediate problems.
I get that Putin is as much a symbol as he's a man at this point in Russia, but as Pointman and many others have said, Putin got into power because he made people believe he brings stability. Now he's turned into an engine of instability.
Somethings gotta give here, and I don't see the Ukrainians putting down their arms at this point, when things are looking like they might be about to turn.