‘Palace coup’: Veteran former CIA chief predicts Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to be toppled

Jack Devine, 83, a three-decade veteran of America’s spy service, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Russian tyrant, 71, “disappeared tomorrow”.

Fears of a coup have been lingering over Putin and the Kremlin since Mad Vlad ordered his troops to invade Ukraine in February last year – with the grinding war exposing cracks in his increasingly shaky grip on power.

The Russian leader has faced an armed uprising from Wagner war lord Yevgeny Prigozhin, a spate of sabotage attacks from anti-Russia partisans, and survived a number of alleged assassination attempts.

Experts have warned that Putin may not see another birthday as he’d rather “end it all with his golden pistol” than face the humiliation of a coup.

But the chance of a coup from his inner circle is increasing as he faces down the prospect of a “permanent stalemate” in Ukraine, according to Devine.

Devine, who worked for the CIA for 32 years, told The Sun: “It’ll be a surprise. There’s always what we call a ‘Black Swan’ that appears from nowhere.

“Putin could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn’t be surprised if some element in the government had decided they were going to take executive action.

“But failing a ‘Black Swan’ I believe his troubles begin when there’s a stalemate and that’s right now.

“I don’t think it’ll be an uprising. I think it’ll be a what we might call a palace coup.”

Devine believes Putin has becoming increasingly unpredictable and dangerous – and his invasion of Ukraine has “sowed his political demise”.

The Russian president is continuing to throw his troops into meat-grinder assaults to try to secure a winter victory.

The devastated city of Avdiivka – the gateway to the major city of Donetsk that lies 12 miles to the east – has become the deadliest flashpoint of the war as Putin attempts to break a painful stalemate.

Devine believes the tyrant’s popularity will continue to drop as the war goes on – but it won’t stop his gruesome grind.

The Russian leader will plough on with his fight “no matter what it takes”, Devine said.

“The more losses and the more violence that is visible to the Russian citizens, the less people want to be involved,” he explained.

“He will have a hard time recruiting, but it is Russia after all. He will find a way to strong arm, entice.

“He will come up with the army at the end of the day, but the war will become increasingly less popular.”

Devine warns the end of the conflict “only begins when the war is at its stalemate and both sides are tired”.

“I don’t think it’s going to get any better,” Devine said.

“He hasn’t been driven out of Ukraine, but a standstill is not a victory.

“The Ukrainians aren’t going to give them territory. Putin’s not going to withdraw.

“But you can take the temperature down. They have to wind down, when everybody realises there’s no hope for Putin to win.

“He’s not going to lose in the technical sense. He’s not going to be driven back into Russia. Anybody waiting for that has false hopes.

“But I don’t think it’s too far off. I think next year we’ll see almost a permanent stalemate.”

Despite predicting Putin’s demise in a palace coup, Devine – who led thousands of CIA employees involved in sensitive missions all over the world – doesn’t believe the Russian president will lose the 2024 elections.

And the former CIA chief warned the so-called “Axis of Evil” between China, Russia and Iran should to be watched very carefully.

“They are trying to pull their allies into an alliance and an axis,” he said.

“And I think we can see it being demonstrated with the Hamas attack in Israel and how Russia is playing that.

“The expansionist abilities of Putin are psychological and political right now, and I think it’s in the non-European world where he’s making some progress.”

Experts agree the despot is nearing the end of his reign, whether by coup, suicide, regime collapse or his failing health – and the Kremlin may not continue to exist as we know it for another year.

Putin’s tyrannical rule, the war and his growing list of enemies are just some of the reasons analysts think his this year will be his last.

This story originally appeared in The Sun and is reproduced here with permission.