AS Ukraine brings the war to Russia’s doorstep with devastating strikes, desperate Vladimir Putin is hatching plots to take back momentum.
The tyrant has suffered months of as Ukraine unleashes an endgame blitz on oil hubs and .
Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s Amazon – known as Wildberries – in Aleksin over Tuesday night Credit: East2West
Putin is on the back foot amid relentless long-range Ukrainian strikes Credit: AP
In a bid to put an end to the snowballing success, Putin – who will fight to his dying breath, according to Ukraine’s former foreign minister – could unleash one of five options to seize back the upper hand.
The cornered dictator has been forced to come up with new ways to win the war because of Ukraine’s long-range drone and missile attacks, experts told The Sun.
Major e-commerce platform Wildberries, dubbed Russia’s Amazon, as well as oil refineries and transport links have all at the hands of Kyiv’s 40-day onslaught.
Ex-foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Sun the Kremlin despot has several final-resort options up his sleeve.
Describing Putin’s diminishing options, Kuleba said the tyrant may look to create a “new weapon” to better defend against Ukrainian .
He said: “He can generate a technological breakthrough where he comes up with a new weapon or with a solution to intercept Ukrainian drones and missiles.”
Putin’s second plan could be “a tactical solution”, Kuleba said.
He explained: “Finding a way to use the current Russian in a better way, in a more efficient way than it is being used now.”
Swimmers flee after a Ukrainian drone is shot down near the Black Sea Credit: East2West
Plumes of smoke rise after a Ukrainian strike on a Wildberries warehouse in Krasnodar Credit: East2West
He added: “The third one is mobilisation in Russia… sending more cannon fodder to the front line and dominating through mass, not through effectiveness.”
Putin’s fourth plot could be further expansion of Russian sabotage and interference with the rest of Europe.
Kuleba suggested the Russian leader could “expand the theatre of war by provoking with limited military operations”.
And in a chilling warning, Kuleba said Putin could continue the threat of a nuclear strike to put an end to Kyiv’s winning streak.
“Putin will be playing with the first four options one way or another while threatening the fifth option,” he said.
Kuleba also warned: “Putin will be fighting wars until his last breath.”
The Russian president’s refusal to recognise Ukraine as a legitimate state is an obsession that will last for the rest of his life, he added.
Ex-Brit Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said mass mobilisation could backfire.
An oil refinery in Ufa, Russia, burns after Ukrainian drone strike more than 800 miles from the frontline Credit: East2West
Ukrainian drones hit fuel trucks heading to Crimea as part of their 40-day operation Credit: East2West
He said it could be “Putin’s final throw of the dice, and [it] may well actually not work at all”.
warned last month the tyrant could to gain the upper hand on the frontline.
De Bretton-Gordon said: “As soon as the middle classes in Moscow and St. Petersburg are sending their sons off to the front, then that is a very different situation.
“If there’s mass mobilisation… the wealthy in St. Petersburg and Moscow will not allow their children to go to the front line to be slaughtered [like] one-and-a-half million others.”
Russia analyst Natia Seskuria said Kyiv’s relentless pressure means Putin could expand his shadow war on Nato.
She said: “I think it is a likely scenario that Russia will try to escalate its asymmetric warfare against the European allies.”
Seskuria noted that mass mobilisation is “always” on the cards for Putin – but said it could be “a very risky move”.
Highlighting the success of the 40-day operation, she added: “Putin’s options are narrowing, and that is probably one of the most important consequences of Ukraine’s pressure campaign.”
Ukraine’s former foreign affairs minister told The Sun five ways desperate Putin could break Kyiv’s momentum Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
Ukrainian attacks on Wildberries warehouses have devastated small businesses Credit: East2West
Meanwhile, Russia expert Emily Ferris pointed to air defences and tech as key weaknesses Putin may look to address.
“When it comes to the technology, I think Russia are behind… it will take time for them to catch up and eventually they probably will,” she told The Sun.
Ukraine’s devastating blitzes on key infrastructure had forced resources away from the battlefield, she added.
“They’ve had to divert resources from the frontline to the rear, so they have to now invest a huge amount in protecting oil refineries,” Ferris said.
Kuleba also detailed key steps for Ukraine to win the war – adding that the combination of all of them would guarantee success.
He said: “Of course, long-range strikes and middle-range strikes conducted by Ukraine are a very important part of that package.
“They cannot change anything on their own, they are inflicting enormous damage on Russia, but other elements should also complement these efforts.
He called for more sanctions to be slapped on the Putin regime, which should be “comprehensive and enforced”.
“Political pressure, so Putin does not feel that there are big players who are willing to support him, should be increased,” he said.
“The economic situation in Russia should continue to deteriorate, and the frontline should be brought to a stalemate, it should be immobile.”
Ukraine’s endgame blitz has brought the momentum of Putin’s invasion to a standstill.
Kuleba explained how Kyiv has been able to put their foot on Russia’s neck over the last few months.
He said: “It’s an outcome of a group of complex factors. Long-range bring war into Russia and distract Russia’s attention.
“Mid-range strikes knock out Russian logistics on the frontline, weakening the frontline positions. Heavy deployment of drones to the frontline by Ukraine limits the advance of Russian forces.
“And Ukrainian resilience deep at home against continued missile and drone strikes defy Putin’s ambition to break Ukraine down from the inside.”
He added: “There is also an important issue of communications on the frontline, where the disconnection of Russian units in Ukraine from Starlink significantly complicates their operations.”
Emphasising the impact of the 40-day operation, Seskuria said: “Ukraine has managed to successfully deconstruct Putin’s key narrative that the ‘special military operation’ has been taking place distant from Russian households.”
She expects Kyiv’s drone attacks to continue, adding: “This should be understood as the closing of the initial phase of Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign, not the end of the broader strategy.”
De Bretton-Gordon said the strikes have “brought this war virtually into every sitting room in Russia, where most people, particularly the middle class, the elite who run the country, have been pretty much untouched by the war”.
He added: “Almost nowhere in Russia is safe from Ukrainian attack.”
And the ex-Army officer suggested .
“Putin’s position is actually now becoming in the balance and in peril,” he said. “And many people are suggesting that it’s time for a new Russian leader.”
While Ukraine’s efforts have taken a toll, Ferris warned that the long-term impact on Russia’s war machine remains to be seen.
She noted that the strikes had “highlighted how weak the rear defences are in Russia”.
She said: “Russia assumed that anything beyond the frontline behind Russia proper was pretty much immune from attack.
“Over the past 18 months, that’s proven not to be the case because of the development long-range missiles and drones, things which Russia has been much slower to catch up with.”
While Kyiv hopes its strike campaign will force Putin to the negotiating table, Kuleba doubts the Russian leader can be persuaded to scale back his ambitions.
“He is not seeking negotiations and he does not believe that Europe has the agency to negotiate,” Kuleba said.
The minister said Putin only views the US as an equal counterpart worth negotiating with.
Over the last two years, Donald Trump has repeatedly tried to broker peace between Putin and Zelensky.
But with diplomatic talks stalled indefinitely, the burden may fall entirely on Ukraine to ensure the momentum remains in its favour.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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