Vladimir Putin could be forced out of the Kremlin in a matter of just months, one of Britain's most respected former foreign secretaries has claimed.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind told GB News the Russian President's "lack of real leadership has totally humiliated himself" after the attempted coup by the Wagner group of mercenaries yesterday.
The former Conservative minister said that the events of the last 48 hours had proven Putin is no longer the strong figures he has presented himself as to the Russian people.
He suggested that the damage done over the weekend could see him ousted from power.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind warned this was the beginning of the end for Putin
GB News
He said: "The real issue is whether Putin's authority has been totally destroyed. It was already on the slide because of the failures in the Ukraine war.
"What was extraordinary yesterday, when he made his great speech in the Kremlin, is that he compared what was happening to 1917 and why? Because two years later the Tsar was overthrown.
"[It was] as if he was the Tsar and in a sense predicting his own demise."
Putin made an extraordinary address to the people of Russia on Saturday after the Wagner Group sent a convoy towards Moscow, vowing to overthrow those in charge of the Ukraine invasion.
In his speech he issued an appeal to those taking part in the "armed mutiny" and begged them not to start a civil war in Russia.
Speculating on how Putin's future would now play out, Rifkind told The Camilla Tominey Show: "Remember, after the Cuban missile crisis it was a year after the Soviets had failed that Khrushchev was just quietly removed by his own colleagues in the Politburo and sent off to his Dacha to retire.
The Wagner Group took control of some parts of Russia
Reuters"Now at some stage, and these things tend to accelerate once they begin, at some stage a group of the most senior Russians around Putin - it's not going to be a popular uprising, it's not going to be a military coup - a mixture of some generals, FSB intelligence agency people, some of the oligarchs will say 'comrade Vladimir, we think perhaps it's time for you to retire to your Dacha'."
He added: "It you're one man, it doesn't matter how many people you've got protecting you, once they stop wanting to protect you there's nothing you can do about it."
The Russian President has not been seen since the Wagner mercenary fighters sent a convoy towards Moscow, vowing to overthrow the Ministry of Defence.
While Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin dramatically called off his assault on the capital at the last minute, Putin has not been seen since.
There are suggestions he has even fled Moscow for St Petersburg.
Responding to the chaos in Russia, Zelensky said in a video message last night: "The man from the Kremlin is obviously very afraid and probably hiding somewhere, not showing himself.
President Zelensky mocked Vladimir Putin last night
Reuters
"I am sure that he is no longer in Moscow … he knows what he is afraid of because he himself created this threat."
He added: "Today the world saw that the bosses of Russia do not control anything. Nothing at all. Complete chaos.
"Complete absence of any predictability. And it is happening on Russian territory, which is fully loaded with weapons.
"In one day, they lost several of their million-plus cities and showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs and anyone else how easy it is to capture Russian cities and, probably, arsenals with weapons."