Vladimir Putin has been accused of becoming "more and more senile" after a rambling speech to Russian journalists, with one expert claiming the dictator is "not with it".
Expert analyses Putin's stuttering speech
The Daily Beast's Allison Quinn, who spent almost a decade in Moscow and Kyiv reporting on the region, analysed the stuttering speech given to assembled Russian journalists. Speaking on the Daily Beast's YouTube livestream, she said: "Putin is on the latest arc of his ranting about the Soviet Union, he's so mad about the Soviet Union, but he's also looking more and more senile, and old."
She added: "If it used to kind of scary, now he's stuttering, he doesn't look his best, you can see that he's nervous. Because he knows, if he loses the war, he's totally screwed. That's it. We know that famous quote he says, 'they'll hang me.' I think he does believe that he will be killed."
Putin's rambling remarks about Wildberries
In the speech, Putin complained about Ukraine striking the Wildberries factory, a big online retailer in the country likened to Amazon. Allison pointed out that Putin "keeps looking at the floor, loses his train of thought, and doesn't really make sense".
She said: "He was accusing Ukraine of killing civilians in one of the strikes. But the striking thing was, he didn't really seem to know what he was talking about. He said, 'Ukraine keeps striking Wildberries,' that big online retailer, Russia's Amazon. He said, 'why would they do that, who would ever do that?' It sounded like someone's grandpa, he didn't seem with it."
Putin compared to Trump
Allison then compared Putin to US President Donald Trump, saying Putin is "more savvy" than his American counterpart, "not quite as needy" and doesn't seek attention as much as Trump does. Putin, who turns 74 next week, has been either President or Prime Minister of Russia since 1999 and shows no signs of giving up his position after almost 30 years in power.
