Russian President Vladimir Putin may soon be on his way out of the Kremlin, one way or another, and new rumors are suggesting that an unlikely usurper may soon emerge…from the kitchen.
Putin is believed to be suffering from terminal cancer – a diagnosis that would explain his erratic and nihilistic rhetoric of late.
But if the cancer doesn’t get him, his personal cook might.
Cronies of Vladimir Putin are reportedly plotting a coup against him, while another trusted aide is lying low and preparing to act as kingmaker, according to new reports.
In a further blow to Mad Vlad, there are claims his whisky-loving foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is “drinking because he is depressed” and is suffering “health problems”.
On top of this, there are recurring rumours of the dictator’s poor health, with some believing he may have cancer.
Then came the shocking suggestion:
One report even claims to Kremlin’s top chef, Yevgeny Progozhin, would be the man to start a coup against Putin.
Prigozhin, 61, had a remit much wider than merely serving up grub to the Kremlin elite, and even has his own private army and is thought to have recruited tens of thousands of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine.
“This is uncharted territory for Putin,” said Christo Grozev, the chief Russia investigator for the Bellingcat investigative journalism organisation.
“Prigozhin has 20,000 bloodthirsty, armed and aggressive men…
“They’re telling me, ‘We’re wondering if we should just lay down our arms because we’ve been turned into cannon fodder and go to Moscow?’ That’s in their thought process already.”
The rumors will likely feed into Putin’s already heightened paranoia, and embolden the Moscow military factions who’ve already been threatening a mutiny against the Russian President.
