Volodymyr Zelensky has once again claimed that both Vladimir Putin’s life and the war are coming to an end. The Ukrainian president did not specify the reasons for his assertion concerning the 72-year-old’s health, rumours have suggested he may have Parkinson’s or cancer, though none of these speculations have been confirmed. He told Eurovision News: “He will die soon – that’s a fact – and it will all be over. I’m younger than Putin, so put your bets on me. My prospects are better.”
Mr Zelensky added that Putin’s fear of losing grip over Russia could be exploited by Western allies, who, by maintaining sanctions and other tactics to undermine its military capability, could promote internal instability. He said: “If they push Putin, he will face destabilisation in his society and he will fear it”
This comes after Russian scientists were reportedly commanded last year by a Putin-affiliated official to develop solutions for slowing down ageing.
Local reports added that Putin regularly bathes in the blood-rich extracts of Siberian red deer antlers – a substance purported to have anti-ageing effects.
Mr Zelensky also sounded the alarm over fresh military escalations by Russia in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions to the northeast.
According to a statement from Ukrainian military intelligence, Moscow is replenishing its arsenal, including stockpiles of state-of-the-art Zircon hypersonic and Kalibr cruise missiles.
The Ukrainian president told Le Figaro: “Putin is trying to buy time and is preparing for a spring offensive. We see preparations for this upcoming operation. We have shared intelligence with our allies. We must look at the situation with wide open eyes.”
Moscow recently claimed that its forces seized territory in the Sumy region, marking the first such assertion since the initial stages of its invasion, though Kyiv has refuted it.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, acknowledged on Thursday that Russia is “intensifying” its efforts in the area and attempting to push further into Ukrainian territory.
Despite retreating into the Sumy region from the adjacent Kursk region in Russia, there is no evidence to back up claims by Putin and Donald Trump that Ukrainian troops had been surrounded.
