On Wednesday, a clip from Inside Edition [1] showed Russian President Vladimir Putin acting every inch the tough dude, telling viewers that any citizens who oppose his invasion of Ukraine are “scum” and “traitors.” But apparently, once those cameras are turned off, his abrasive self-confidence vanishes, Uproxx [2] reports.
Inside Edition spoke to The Daily Beast contributing editor Craig A. Copetas, who has recently written about Putin’s increasing distrust [3] of pretty much everyone. Copetas’s sources told him that “Putin’s paranoia runs deep enough that he felt compelled to replace a whopping 1,000 members of his personal staff” to ensure his safety.”
This makes it sound like Putin is feeling massively insecure.
“The assessment from the intelligence community is that he’s scared,” Copetas said. [1]
Of course, poisoning seems to be Russia’s preferred method of getting rid of people, something that Putin is entirely familiar with.
Uproxx notes:
“In 2016 it was determined that the Russian president himself likely greenlit [4] the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent-turned-defector who died after drinking tea that was laced with polonium-210, a radioactive substance. Putin was also suspected [5] of being behind the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter while they were in England. He was also linked to the botched attempt to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny (who is the subject [6] of a new movie that premiered at Sundance earlier this year.)
The fact that Putin has been linked to poisonings means he is indeed, likely paranoid, Copetas said.
“This will frighten Putin even more because as an ex-[KGB] agent, he knows it can be done.
Uproxx theorized that this may be why Putin is sitting at a ginormous table.
Kill radius of a hand grenade 35 feet.
Putin's table is 40 feet.
Any questions? pic.twitter.com/2Thvv2V3oD [7]— Senator James Stewart (@Jimmi_THE_greek) March 6, 2022 [8]
I’m including this clip below, which features Copetas. Maybe it’s just me, but I think Putin doesn’t look well in the video below. I really don’t know what’s going on with him and some of his behavior seems out of character. See what you think below.