In Putin's bunker, some powers realize inevitability of Russia's defeat – Piontkovsky

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

"All the people who are able to think in the bunker have realized that the war is lost. Their main task, which they are now solving, is how to stay in power after losing the war. They have one direction – the search for a successor, a replacement for Putin," the political scientist said.

Andrey Piontkovsky added that the Russian people will simply be told what propagandists in Russia are already doing, that the war is not with Ukraine, but with the whole West, that they managed to save and preserve Russia.

"And comrade Putin has made a number of mistakes in the Ukrainian issue, so in order to preserve his health, he is forced to go to China for long-term treatment. But most importantly, look at the destruction of Shoigu and Gerasimov. Prigozhin is doing this, he is allowed to do anything. After the defeat, the authorities will have to explain who is to blame. So the culprits are the inept military leaders Shoigu and Gerasimov, who plundered the army. The view imposed by Prigozhin at the behest of the authorities is shared by 100 percent of the community, just look at their Telegram channels. Moscow is preparing for the continuation of this group in power after the inevitable defeat," Piontkovsky said.

• On May 16, Head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said Putin has problems with drug use.

• On May 20, the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Russia has a "collective Putin", and whether the real one is alive or not does not affect anything