Vladimir Putin is unlikely to enjoy a peaceful ending to his time in power, an expert has claimed.
The Russian President has ruled in Russia since 2000, with a four-year gap from 2008-2012 when he was Prime Minister and still controlled Russian levers of power.
In that time he suppressed Russian opposition and used his grip on power to launch violent incursions abroad, not least in Ukraine.
Two experts have discussed the parallels between the Russian president and Adolf Hitler’s expansionist rule during the 1930s and 1940s in Germany.
Military analyst Michael Clarke told Times Radio that, like Hitler, Putin will meet a violent end when his time in power reaches its conclusion.
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He said: “No one expects Putin to retire peacefully to his Dacha or his palace in Sochia, living the rest of his life observing Russian politics.
“That won’t happen. He will either die in office or be removed in something that will certainly become violent.
“No one can foresee a peaceful transition. All Soviet leaders have been removed in some sort of forceful way followed by a period of interregnum, where one person emerges to power until they are removed. The transition is never smooth and is always full of unpredictable elements.”
Hitler’s death has been shrouded in mystery for decades, but most agree he died by suicide via a gunshot to the head on 30 April 1945 as it became clear Germany was headed for defeat in World War 2.
Historian Lord Roberts added that Putin shares a lot of similarities with Hitler.
He said: “You can also look back at the Tsars. Lots of them were overthrown in palace coups, often by their own sons. They also wound up being very bloody.
“We would all love to see President Putin standing in front of the International Criminal Court. But that is not the way of Russia.
“One always wants to avoid equating Hitler with anybody as it is always a bit of a bear trap.
“But if there is anybody, you are looking for a totalitarian dictator that invades its neighbours, has no time for human rights, murders his domestic opponents…the tragic death of Alexei Navalny can be put down to Putin’s choice of where he was imprisoned. The Venn diagram has a lot of overlapping areas.”
World leaders have warned that, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin must not appeased in the way Hitler was prior to World War 2.
