The main reason for the war was Putin’s failure to dictate his terms to Ukraine.

The ex-head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, General Mykola Malomuzh, spoke about this on the air of the Youtube channel Ukraine 24.

“When a new president came to the United States, Putin saw that he could not control Ukraine directly. He assumed that Zelensky would be a controlled, weak president. That he would impose his position in this situation, there would be recognition of Crimea, and there would be a hybrid situation in Donbass — autonomy within Ukraine, controlled by the Russian Federation. It didn’t work out that way,” Malomuzh said.

According to him, Putin had several scenarios for influencing the situation in Ukraine: political, economic, and the change of power at the expense of his own resources – economic, political, intelligence. And the war was the last resort.

“Even until the last weeks, he doubted whether to start a war. The first format was to launch an offensive on February 16. But the forces that oriented him to a different path, non-military, delayed this process,” said the former head of Ukrainian intelligence.

” But the “hawks” won, in a few days they convinced – no, this process will be long, without guarantees, and the war with a weak Ukraine will provide a quick effect. Within three days we will take over the regional centers, in two weeks we will control Ukraine,” the general added .

Malomuzh also said that there were those in the Russian Federation who warned Putin that “tickets to war are the end of Russia and you, Putin.”

Recall, according to media reports, in the Kremlin, both the so-called “war party” and those who want peace are dissatisfied with Putin’s actions . The Russian elite is allegedly already looking for a successor to the dictator.

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