Russian publicist and sociologist Andrey Piontkovsky believes that the president-dictator of the Russian Federation does not himself prepare his successor. More importantly, Vladimir Putin will cling to power to the last.

The publicist spoke about this on the air of the Freedom TV channel.

“Putin himself is not preparing any successor. We have heard all these myths about a successor since 2016. The man, the International Criminal Court, wanted as a criminal will hold on to power until the last second. Numerous groups will prepare a successor, and everything will be decided on the battlefield,” the expert thinks.

According to him, the offensive can have two results: either a convincing victory for the Ukrainian army, or a clash of the parties "on some lines." According to the first scenario, Piontkovsky noted, everything will happen as General Zaluzhny “outlined” in an interview with The Economist in December 2022.

"When he said that "I am standing 84 km from Melitopol, I am ready to take this city, but I need such a weapon." He already has this weapon even more. When he takes it, he will go to the coast, the entire Russian group in Crimea will turn into a huge cauldron, and the army will be forced to flee from there, then people will appear who will enter Putin’s bunker and name successor. This is the first scenario,” the Russian publicist said.

According to the expert's second scenario, if the offense does not lead to such exciting results, the current stalemate will continue.

“There will also be a clash of the parties on some line, maybe more in favor of Ukraine. Now Putin does not dream of taking Kyiv, he dreams of selling this frozen situation to the people as an allegedly honorable draw and keeping his seat in power. Talk about 2024; that is why they have become more active,” Andrey Piontkovsky noted.