Ex-M16 Head: Putin will land in sanatorium and lose power by 2023; The Story Behind Ukraine’s First War-Crimes Trial; ‘A long journey’: Volunteers from Belarus fight for Ukraine; As Russia intensifies push for Donbas, Ukraine rules out ceasefire, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

By admin On May 23, 2022

Putin will land in sanatorium and lose power by 2023: ex-MI6 head:

Russian President Vladimir Putin will land in a long-term medical facility by next year, a former MI6 chief predicted amid rumors that the Kremlin strongman’s health is failing.

Sir Richard Dearlove said on the One Decision podcast that Putin, 69, could be sent to a sanatorium as part of an exit strategy amid Russia’s struggling effort to invade neighboring Ukraine.

“I’m really going to stick my neck out. I think he’ll be gone by 2023,” Dearlove, a co-host of the podcast, forecasted. “Probably into the sanatorium, from which he will not emerge as leader of Russia.”

Putting Putin to the medical facility would be the “elegant” alternative to a coup, said Dearlove, who was head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1999 until 2004.

He cautioned that Moscow has no succession plan if Putin departs, but believes secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev would take control. —>READ MORE HERE

The Story Behind Ukraine’s First War-Crimes Trial:

The five Russian soldiers had just rounded a corner—fleeing the Ukrainian forces in a gray Volkswagen they had commandeered—when they spotted Oleksandr Shelipov. It was around 11 a.m. on Feb. 28, and he was on the road near his home in the village of Chupakhivka, about 200 miles from Kyiv, holding a cellphone.

An officer in the front seat told Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank-unit sergeant, to shoot.

Sgt. Shishimarin, seated behind the driver, hesitated, according to testimony in court from multiple witnesses.

Another soldier in the front began shouting at Sgt. Shishimarin, saying that if he didn’t shoot, the man would give away their position to the Ukrainians.

A burst of automatic fire leapt from Sgt. Shishimarin’s rifle.

Mr. Shelipov was struck in the head. He died on the spot, where his wife found him a few minutes later.

The events of that chaotic morning in Chupakhivka are now the subject of the most closely watched war-crimes trial in years.

This account, based on the testimony given by Sgt. Shishimarin, another Russian soldier, Mr. Shelipov’s widow and a neighbor of the Shelipovs during the weeklong trial, lays out the series of events that led to Mr. Shelipov’s death. Sgt. Shishimarin has been charged with premeditated murder and violating international laws of war. —>READ MORE HERE

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