Putin could sacrifice his OWN army in bid for hollow victory in Ukraine to save his skin despite 30k losses, report says
VLADIMIR Putin could sacrifice his own army in a bid for a hollow victory in Ukraine to save his skin despite losing more than 30,000 troops, a bombshell report has revealed.
A top secret analysis of the shambolic invasion says the Russian dictator believes 30,350 of his troops are a "price worth paying" for a small victory in eastern Ukraine.
But the new report - seen by senior UK government officials and obtained by - warns Putin’s blood sacrifice may be a step too far for his troops.
The Russian leader has now lost 30,000 troops, 207 planes and 174 helicopters in the war, according to Ukrainian officials.
And the army is now said to be on the brink of collapse after losing thousands of soldiers to the fierce Ukrainian resistance.
The confidential report suggests Kremlin chiefs have desperately tried to persuade Putin that his invasion is a catastrophe - but the dictator believes he can still win a "partial victory".
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The report's author, a top UK analyst on Russia, suggests Putin has convinced himself that a victory in Donbas is now in sight - and it will give him leverage in the fight for Kyiv.
And if he fails in his bid for a small victory, he would be ousted.
The disastrous war already means a coup to overthrow Putin is now a realistic possibility.
The new report says: "Russia’s attempt to achieve a speedy and decisive victory in the Donbas has not yet succeeded. They are still grinding forward, gaining 1-2km a day.
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"The Russians are now achieving what successes they have mostly by means of a slogging match with repeated, very costly, infantry attacks reminiscent of 1945 not 2022.
"The gross failures of the campaign Putin has so far been able to hide quite well from the Russian public, or to blame on various officials, who have been arrested and replaced.
"The Russian population until recently bought Putin’s disinformation.
"We have seen an attempt within the Kremlin to get a message across to Putin and his closest team that things are going wrong, perhaps even catastrophically wrong."
The chaotic invasion has caused devastating losses for Russia - and Putin has been warned to bring his troops back home or "risk more orphans".
A veteran legislator issued an appeal to the Russian leader to bring back his troops amid growing Russian protests about the war.
Speaking during a regional assembly in the Primorsky region, Communist deputy Leonid Vasyukevich, 69, blasted the use of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
He said: "We are backing measures to support families of servicemen killed during the special military operation.
"We understand that unless our country stops the special military operation, there will be even more orphans.
"Young men die and are maimed during the operation, even though they could have benefited our country."
'SO DEPLETED'
The brave local MP said three months have passed since the start of the war “and it is clearly impossible to reach success by a military way”.
He said if Putin continues it "will inevitably lead to an increase in numbers of killed and wounded servicemen," demanding the “immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine”.
British Russia commentator Bruce Jones told The Mirror: "There has to be a point when Russian forces cannot take any more losses, a cut-off point.
"This would be a straw that broke the camel’s moment, where units would no longer be able to function as a fighting force because they are so depleted.
"It has happened before and on a small scale it is happening now - so this could become a reality."
It comes after two more Russian colonels were killed in Ukraine — including the country’s “best paratroop commander”.
Lt-Col Alexander Dosyagayev, 34, led an airborne battalion of the 104th paratroop regiment.
Some of his troops were said to have been in Bucha — the scene of rape and torture atrocities.
His battalion, based in Pskov, was recognised as the best in Russia during checks on combat training and discipline.
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The other dead commander is Col Vladimir Ivanov, 41 — who served in the Russian defence ministry’s department in charge of propaganda.
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Ten generals are thought to have been killed - but it is likely that the true toll is actually higher.